Fog-free IGI in 12 years

The Delhi airport witnessed a completely dense fog free December after a gap of more than a decade.

The Delhi airport witnessed a completely dense fog free December after a gap of more than a decade.

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“This is after a long time that there was no CAT III fog (runway visual range below 350 metres) in the month of December,” said R.K. Jenamani, Director-in-charge of met unit of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

“There was hardly any CAT II fog either. The last time this happened was in 1997.”

Though dense fog was expected on Thursday morning, the visibility was even better than Wednesday, when some morning flights were delayed.

“All conditions favouring dense fog were present and the visibility had dropped to 250 metres at 1 a.m. but some wind condition developed early in the morning and the visibility improved," he said.

Runway 29 of IGI airport, which usually witnesses denser fog, recorded a lowest RVR of 700 metres.

“There wasn't much moisture in the atmosphere this winter and the wind conditions too were not favourable,” he said.

The met department has forecast shallow or moderate fog for on New Year’s day, which doesn't mean too much trouble for
flight operations.

The first day of the year could be a tad warmer, with the mercury rising to 7 degrees Celsius from Thursday’s 6 degrees as minimum temperature. The weatherman has also predicted light fog early morning.

“Owing to the steady northwesterly winds, fog is dispersed before accumulating,: said the duty officer at the Safdarjung unit of the Met department.

The maximum temperature on Friday will be around 21 degrees Celsius, a couple of notches up from Thursday's 19.9 degrees Celsius.