Fog brings visibility to 50m in Delhi, rain on Monday

Visibility was reduced to 50 meters on Saturday morning following dense fog in the national capital region, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 8.4 degrees Celsius, weather officials said.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, the minimum temperature was recorded one notch above the season's average. The maximum was likely to hover around 16 degrees Celsius. On Friday, the city recorded maximum temperature of 17.7 degrees Celsius, two notches below season's average.

The official said that the sky will remain clear throughout the day with dense fog in several parts of the city. The air quality of the city is 'poor' as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research. It recorded air quality at 281.

He said, the visibility on Saturday morning dropped to 50 meters at several locations. Fog across north India led to 20 Delhi-bound trains being delayed. Most of the trains are running late by three hours but a few are running late by four to five hours.

The weather officials said that the national capital is expected to witness shallow fog from Sunday onwards.

The IMD forecast said that dense to very dense fog was likely in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and in isolated pockets over Delhi and West Madhya Pradesh.

There will be dense fog in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Rajasthan Odisha and East Madhya Pradesh during next 24 hours till Sunday.

IMD forecast for Sunday said the minimum temperate will hover around 8 degrees Celsius and the maximum at 17. There would be moderate fog on Sunday.

On Monday, Delhi will receive light rain or drizzle and the minimum temperature would be 9 degrees Celsius while the maximum at 18. The sky will be cloudy.

Reason behind the rains is a fresh western disturbance. The IMD stated: "A fresh western disturbance likely to affect Western Himalayan Region and plains of northwest India from 20th January. Under its influence, scattered to fairly widespread rain/snow likely over western Himalayan region during 20-21 January, 2020."

( With inputs from IANS )