IMD issues ‘cold wave’ alert in Delhi for the next 2 days. Top updates

For the third consecutive day, train services were disrupted as 11 Delhi-bound trains faced delays due to the persistent foggy conditions in the region.

The weather department on Friday issued a cold-day alert for Delhi, forecasting the likelihood of 'dense to very dense fog' in the NCR region over the next two days. "Cold-day conditions are very likely in some to many parts of Delhi on December 30 and 31," the IMD said.

People huddled around a bonfire during evening hours amid cold and foggy weather in New Delhi. (HT Photo/Raj K Raj)

It further added the probability of a ‘cold wave’ in isolated pockets of Delhi, starting from the second week of January.

Here are the top updates connected with the cold wave alert in the national capital:

• The minimum temperature was registered at 10.7 degrees Celsius in the national capital, marking a deviation of four notches above the seasonal average. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature was recorded at 19.8 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 84 per cent and 100 per cent.
• Transportation in the city was affected due to dense fog. For the third consecutive day, train services were disrupted as 11 Delhi-bound trains faced delays due to the persistent foggy conditions in the region. "Fog conditions at IGIA (Indira Gandhi International Airport) improved significantly in the morning, with the lowest visibility at 150 metres in dense fog," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said earlier.
• During the period from midnight on December 25 to 6 am on Thursday, 50 out of the total 58 diverted flights were a result of airlines not scheduling pilots trained to land in airports with extremely poor visibility, data gathered from officials at the Delhi airport showed.
• IndiGo experienced the highest number of flight diversions as a result of this. “13 IndiGo flights were diverted as it had not rostered required pilots to land during the fog season. This was followed by Air India and SpiceJet with 10 flights each,” a Delhi airport official said.
• At 4 pm, the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 382, categorizing the air quality as ‘very poor.’
• On Saturday, the expected maximum and minimum temperatures are anticipated to be around 19 and 10 degrees Celsius, respectively.
  
  The AQI scale categorizes air quality as follows: 0-50 as ‘good,’ 51-100 as ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 as ‘moderate,’ 201-300 as ‘poor,’ 301-400 as ‘very poor,’ and 401-500 as ‘severe.’