North India continued to reel under intense cold wave conditions on Thursday, with dense fog blanketing Delhi. The Delhi airport issued an advisory on low visibility conditions. However, it said that no flights were affected due to fog, much to the relief of flyers amid the holiday season.
The general visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 7 am was 500 metres. The airport said that CAT III compliant flights were not affected. CAT III compliant flights are equipped to land safely during poor visibility conditions.
Temperatures are expected to dip further from December 27, with the weather getting colder by December 29, quoting leading meteorologists.
As many as 18 trains en route to Delhi, including the Duronto Express and the Avadh Assam Express, are running late due to dense fog conditions.
Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category, with the minimum and maximum temperatures predicted to be at 9 degree Celsius and 20 degree Celsius respectively.
Cold Wave In Kashmir
The spell of cold wave in parts of India has frozen lakes, springs, rivulets and water pipelines and has taken temperatures 14-18 degrees below the freezing point. Some areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are among those reeling under the harshest cold wave. An intense cold wave tightened its grip further with Srinagar recording minus 7.3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, down from minus 6.6 degrees Celsius the previous evening.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) too recorded the minimum temperature in various regions of the state.
The sharp drop in temperatures caused water bodies across Kashmir to freeze, with a thin layer of ice forming on lakes and rivers, marking the peak of the harsh winter season.
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