Delhi fog: City sees season's longest zero visibility spell; 400 flights delayed

Delhi fog: IMD said that the maximum temperature of the city settled at 20 degrees Celsius.

Dense fog enveloped Delhi on Saturday, reducing visibility to zero for a nine-hour stretch, the longest spell of the season. Due to the foggy conditions, the Delhi airport witnessed 19 flight diversions, many cancellations and over 400 flight delays.

Commuters seen in a chilly and foggy winter evening in Delhi. (Photo by Raj K Raj/ Hindustan Times)

Out of the total diverted flights, 13 were domestic, four international and two non-scheduled flights. Over 45 flights were cancelled due to bad weather conditions at Delhi as well as at the destination airports.

A thick blanket of fog had enveloped Delhi on Friday as well, delaying more than 400 flights.

Zero visibility prevailed for nine hours at Palam between 6 pm and 3 am (UTC), marking the longest spell of the season.

The city's primary weather station, Safdarjung, recorded eight hours of zero visibility.

Meanwhile, the Northern Railway said a total of 59 trains were running late by up to six hours and 22 by around eight hours.

IMD said that the maximum temperature of the city settled at 20 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was 7.8 degrees Celsius.

IMD's weather prediction for Delhi

The weather department has predicted a partly cloudy sky for the city on Sunday.

Smog and moderate fog are likely in most areas, with dense fog expected in a few places during the morning. The wind speed is forecast to gradually increase to 8-10 kmph from the southeast in the afternoon, before decreasing to less than 6 kmph in the evening and night.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle around 18 and 10 degree C, respectively.

Delhi's air quality remained in the very poor category on Saturday, with the city's 24-hour average AQI recorded at 378.

With inputs from PTI