Dense fog likely to engulf North India till Dec 27 as temperatures dip across Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR

New Delhi: Dense fog engulfed national capital Delhi on Saturday reducing visibility and affecting vehicular traffic as well as movement of trains. Temperatures across northern India plummeted with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting that thick fog is expected over most of the north, including Delhi-NCR and neighbouring states till December 27.

“Dense to very dense fog is likely to continue over northwest India, particularly in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and UP, and adjoining eastern India,” the IMD said.

Blanket of fog over Delhi-NCR

A layer of fog was observed over Punjab, north Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi on Saturday. Another layer was seen over some parts of Bihar.

According to the IMD “very dense fog” is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 is “dense”, 201 and 500 “moderate”, and 501 and 1,000 “shallow”.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the national capital’s primary weather station, recorded Delhi’s minimum temperature at 5.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Dip in temperatures

Cold weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana with the Union Territory of Chandigarh turning out to be the coldest place in the region-- recording this season's lowest at 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Punjab’s Bathinda recorded its lowest so far at 3.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. Amritsar recorded its low at 6 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana, Patiala, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Faridkot experienced cold weather conditions at 5.9, 4.8, 7.7, 4.9 and 5.3 degrees Celsius respectively, according to a report of the Meteorological Department.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded its low at 4.6 degrees Celsius while minimum temperatures in Hisar, Karnal, Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa settled at 3.8, 5, 3.2, 5.2, 5.8 and 6.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

Trains delayed due to fog

A total of 14 trains were running late by one-and-half to three and half hours, railway officials said. At 5:30 am, visibility was 100 metres at Palam and 200 metres at Safdarganj, Delhi’s main weather stations. Among other cities, it was 25 metres at Patiala (Punjab) and Ganganagar (Rajasthan), and 50 metres at Churu.

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