100 planes are delayed as the season’s thickest pollution envelopes Delhi

Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, Delhi experienced the heaviest fog of the season as a portion of the haze extended from Punjab all the way across the Indo-Gangetic plain.

“The fog enveloped north, central, and eastern India, spanning an area of around one million square kilometres. The fog blanketed roughly three times as much ground on Monday night and Tuesday morning compared to the previous such fog spell this winter, which happened on December 27,” he said, adding that visibility remained between 50 and 100 metres between 10 p.m. on January 2 and 4 a.m. on January 3.

The maximum temperature in the Capital decreased from 17.3 degrees Celsius (°C) on Monday to 16.1°C on Tuesday, which is three degrees below the average for this time of year due to the fog and gloomy skies. This is Delhi’s second-coldest highest temperature of the current winter season, trailing only December 26’s reading of 15.6°C from Safdarjung, the city’s official weather station.

According to IMD officials, Jafarpur in southwest Delhi had the city’s lowest recorded high temperature of 14.7°C, and a few isolated areas of the Capital had “cold days.”

When the minimum temperature falls to 4°C or lower, or when it is 4.5 degrees below normal, IMD proclaims a “cold wave” in that area. The department defines a “cold day” as one in which the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees below normal and the minimum temperature is below 10°C.