NEW DELHI: Dense fog over Delhi for a second consecutive morning reduced visibility to zero in several areas, leading to 81 trains being delayed and 15 flights getting diverted, officials said on Saturday.The Met office said there was zero visibility since 11:30 pm on Friday at Palam and 12:30 am on Saturday at Safdarjung.The fog was accompanied by mainly calm surface winds that prevented it from dissipating.At 7 am, general visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was zero in very dense fog.The Runway Visual Range (RVR) at its runways was in the range of 100-250 metres, with CAT III conditions. Passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport during a cold and foggy winter morning, in New Delhi, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.Such very dense fog in zero visibility with CAT III conditions at the airport has been prevailing since 11:30 pm on Friday, the Met office said.”While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the Delhi International Airport Limited, which operates the airport, said in a post on X at 6:56 am.Update issued at 06:55 hours.Kind attention to all flyers!#Fog #FogAlert #DelhiAirport pic.twitter.com/7i1yPFW3AK— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) January 4, 2025 CAT III facility allows aircraft to operate in low-visibility conditions.The Northern Railway said a total of 59 trains were running late by up to six hours and 22 by around eight hours.In a related development, air quality in the national capital was in the ‘very poor’ category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 380 at 9 am, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.The minimum temperature settled at 7.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal. The Met office has predicted dense to very dense fog during the day. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 21 degrees Celsius.GRAP III back as air quality plummets in DelhiCold wave grips parts of JharkhandJharkhand continued to reel under cold wave conditions on Saturday with the mercury falling below 6 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.Dry weather prevailed over the state during the last 24 hours with the lowest minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius recorded in Khunti, it said.”Below normal departures at few places were seen during last 24 hours, besides above normal and appreciably below normal each at isolated places over Jharkhand,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.No large change in minimum temperature during the next 24 hours is expected, and thereafter, the temperatures may rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius over the subsequent three days, it added.The IMD predicted a shallow to moderate fog in the morning on Sunday and a partly cloudy sky later.On January 6 and 7 fog will be visible in the morning with a partly cloudy sky later.The weather conditions are likely to be the same on January 8 and 9, it said.Dense fog in Kashmir valley hits flight operations at Srinagar airportFlight operations at the Srinagar airport were hit on Saturday due to dense fog that engulfed parts of the Kashmir valley, officials said.A thick layer of fog engulfed Kashmir, including Srinagar, in the morning, they said.Poor visibility due to the fog affected operations at the airport and all morning flights were delayed, they added.The officials said, “Due poor visibility at Srinagar airport, no flight operations have taken place so far.”All airlines have rescheduled their morning operations till the visibility improves.This is the second consecutive day of fog affecting flight operations at Srinagar airport.On Friday, morning flights were delayed while one was diverted due to low visibility. Operations resumed around noon after the visibility had improved.
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