Parts of Delhi engulfed in dense fog, visibility at Palam dips to 50m

Surface winds are low and forecasted to improve and change in direction to easterly. AQI is likely to stay in the lower end of “very poor” for the next two days, according to Safar

Dense fog was reported at the Palam weather station in Delhi early Friday morning as the visibility dipped to around 50 metres between 7am and 8am, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Representational image. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

In other parts of the city, including Safdarjung observatory, which is the official marker of the city, moderate fog was reported.

According to the Met department, the visibility here in the morning was 200 metres.

Several flyers were stranded as several departures at the Delhi airport were delayed due to the fog on Friday morning. Officials said the departure of flights between 6am and 7am was affected as the visibility dropped drastically.

Even as the exact number of delays could not be verified, they said, operations are expected to normalise during the afternoon.

Arrivals, however, continued normally, the officials said.

Meanwhile the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city remained in the “very poor” category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar).

“The overall Delhi air quality is in the low-end of the ‘very poor’ category as forecast. Surface winds are low and forecasted to improve and change in direction to easterly. Better ventilation is likely to influence AQI positively. AQI is likely to stay in the lower end of “very poor” for the next two days and it is likely to further improve on February 20,” Safar said in its bulletin.

An AQI between 0-50 is marked good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101- 200 is moderate, 201- 300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is considered severe.

As per Safar, the concentration of PM10 particles stood at 188 in the “moderate” category while the concentration of PM93 particles stood at 150 in the “poor” category on Friday.

According to IMD, Delhi’s temperature was recorded at 12 degrees Celsius in Palam at 5.30am on Friday.

The maximum temperature would be around 28 degrees Celcius whereas the minimum around 10 degrees Celcius respectively, the regional weather department said Thursday.

(With agency inputs)