On Saturday, the people of Delhi awoke to a misty morning and bitter cold, which also had an impact on many rail services. As a western disturbance approaches the northern plains, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a partly cloudy sky and moderate fog in the morning, with a minimum temperature of approximately 5 degrees Celsius on Saturday. On Sunday, the temperature is expected to rise to 6 degrees Celsius, and on Monday, it will reach 8 degrees Celsius.
Passengers were left stuck at the New Delhi Railway Station due to multiple trains, including the Gorakhdham Superfast and the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express, being delayed, according to news agency ANI. Four degrees below average, the minimum temperature on Friday was recorded at 4.7 degrees Celsius due to heavy fog that covered the nation's capital in the morning. The previous day's temperature was 4.8 degrees Celsius. A minimum of 2.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in 2021, which was the second lowest temperature in the last ten years and the lowest in Delhi in the previous three years on Republic Day.
At least 34 trains and about 25 aircraft at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport experienced delays of more than an hour on Friday due to fog. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported at 7 a.m. on Saturday that the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the Anand Vihar region was 450, sending the city's air quality plummeting once more into the deep red zone. A 24-hour air quality index for Friday was recorded at 409 (severe) at 4 p.m., according per the CPCB national report.
Meanwhile, Friday's moderate snowfall in Himachal Pradesh's higher regions put an end to the region's protracted dry weather in some places. Light snowfall was reported near the north portal of the Atal Tunnel in the districts of Kullu, Bharmour, and Pangi in Chamba, according to the regional meteorological department. On Friday, the weather service also issued a cold wave warning for the next two days in some areas of Odisha. A few districts in north interior Odisha are likely to face cold wave conditions for the next two days due to a cold and dry wind coming into the state from the northwest, according to senior weather scientist Uma Shakhar Dash of the Regional Meteorological Centre, who was quoted by PTI.
