New Delhi: Delhi recorded its lowest temperature of the season on Friday with Safdarjung, the city's official weather observatory posting a minimum temperature of 3.9 degrees Celsius. A dense surface level fog was also seen enveloping the city this morning, which plunged visibility to zero.
According to Meteorological Department data, the mercury dipped three degrees below normal. A cold wave is when the minimum dips to around 2 degree Celsius. A minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at Lodhi Road. These are the lowest temperatures in the respective areas this season, according to IMD. Dense to very dense fog conditions were reported over Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, IMD said in a tweet.
"Very dense fog reported in isolated pockets of Punjab, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh; Dense fog in isolated pockets over Jammu division, Haryana and East Uttar Pradesh; Moderate fog in isolated pockets over Bihar, West Madhya Pradesh and Assam", IMD said in a tweet. Faced with a severe cold, several homeless people were seen taking refuge in night shelters.
A caretaker from AIIMS shelter homes, Krishnakant Choudhary said, "At least 350 beds have been arranged in the AIIMS shelter and around 450 people stay here. The food is provided three times, quilts are being provided, every arrangement done by the Delhi government is in place". Cold wave and fog conditions also impacted day-to-day life of commuters.
As many as 39 passenger trains to Delhi were running behind schedule. Zero visibility was reported at Delhi (Palam) Airport while Safdarjung Airport reported 200 m visibility in dense fog conditions on Friday morning. Apart from Delhi, the visibility was recorded below 500 m in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh including Gwalior and Malda, Gangetic West Bengal, Assam, parts of Punjab, and Rajasthan's Ganganagar, as per IMD data.
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