Delhi sees first foggy morning after widespread showers

New DelhiA day after widespread rainfall was witnessed in Delhi, residents woke up to season’s first fog on Saturday morning, with visibility dropping sharply at Safdarjung and Palam airports

New DelhiA day after widespread rainfall was witnessed in Delhi, residents woke up to season’s first fog on Saturday morning, with visibility dropping sharply at Safdarjung and Palam airports.

A blanket of Fog covering parts of Delhi on Saturday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

At 6.30am, visibility at Safdarjung was recorded at 500 metres, against 4,000 metres at the same time on Friday. At Palam, it was recorded at 800 metres, down from 4,000 metres a day earlier, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

As per IMD standards, a fog is considered “shallow” when visibility ranges from 500 metres to 1,000 metres

The air quality on Saturday also deteriorated to the “moderate” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 117 (moderate) on Saturday, as compared to 60 (satisfactory) on Friday.

The foggy morning came amid a sharp change in weather conditions following Friday’s rainfall, which had brought down temperatures and improved air quality across the city. However, temperatures began rising during the day, with the maximum temperature at Safdarjung settling at 27.9°C, 3.1 degrees below normal and 7.2 degrees higher than Friday’s reading, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

The minimum, meanwhile, was recorded at 16.2°C, a notch below the 17.2°C logged on Friday.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality data for October showed a significant improvement compared with previous years, according to a report released by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday.

Under Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) standards, an AQI of 0–50 is “good”, 51–100 “satisfactory”, 101–200 “moderate”, 201–300 “poor”, 301–400 “very poor” and 401–500 “severe”.

The monthly average AQI for October this year was logged at 166 (moderate), against 223 (poor) in October 2025, 234 (poor) in 2024 (poor) and 219 (poor) in 2023. This was also the lowest October monthly average since 2021, when the figure stood at 173.

For the period between January 2026 and October, Delhi recorded an average AQI of 167, marginally better than 170 during the corresponding period last year. The average AQI during the period was 184 in 2024, 172 in 2023 and 187 in 2022.

The average PM2.5 concentration between January 1 and October 29 stood at 69 micrograms per cubic metre, compared with 72 micrograms per cubic metre during the corresponding period in 2025. However, the average PM10 concentration increased to 171 micrograms per cubic metre from 166 micrograms per cubic metre last year.