North India continued to experience severe cold conditions on Thursday, with temperatures remaining in the single digits across several states. Dense fog and low visibility during the early hours impacted commuters, leading to disruptions in flight services and delays for 18 trains bound for Delhi.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported ‘very dense fog’ in isolated areas of Punjab, Haryana, West Rajasthan, and Bihar at 5:30 am on Thursday. Heavy fog was also observed in parts of Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Assam, while moderate fog affected isolated regions of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, according to the IMD.
Shallow fog was reported in isolated parts of eastern Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and western Madhya Pradesh. The IMD forecasted dense to very dense fog during late evenings and mornings across many parts of Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh from January 18 to 20, and in isolated parts on January 21 and 22.
The IMD also predicted a slight rise in minimum temperatures by about 2 degrees Celsius over Northwest India in the next 24 hours, with no significant change thereafter.
In most parts of Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh, as well as many parts of West Uttar Pradesh, some parts of Haryana, and isolated areas of Uttarakhand, West Rajasthan, north Madhya Pradesh, and Gangetic West Bengal, cold to severe cold day conditions prevailed on Thursday.
The visibility at 5:30 am on Thursday was recorded below 500 meters. Biting chill and poor visibility were reported in various regions, affecting Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Rajasthan, East Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and Assam.
The prevailing dense fog led to 18 trains running behind schedule in Delhi, as reported by Northern Railways. Flight services were also impacted, with several delays and a few cancellations due to reduced visibility.
Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were affected by dense fog, with visibility reduced to 50-100 meters from 12 am to 6:30 am on Thursday. However, conditions improved marginally, with visibility recorded at 300 meters at 8 am, as announced by the IMD in a subsequent release.