Weather Update: Cold wave conditions persist in Delhi-NCR, IMD issues ‘yellow alert’ over dense fog

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said that a dense to very dense layer of fog is expected to engulf some parts of North India – Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh – during the next five days. The National Capital Delhi and some neighbouring areas may also witness dense to very dense fog in the next 24 hours, prompting the weather department to issue a yellow alert for Tuesday.

The weather department forecasted that cold to severe cold weather conditions are very likely to continue in some parts of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan during the next 48 hours adding that many parts of Uttar Pradesh are also likely to see cold to severe cold weather conditions during next 4-5 days.

The IMD recorded a maximum temperature at 17.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average, in the national capital on Monday. The minimum temperature was at 6.1 degrees Celsius as against 4.8 degrees Celsius the previous day. Cold wave conditions prevailed in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Punjab and Haryana.

However, northwest India is likely to record a rise in minimum temperatures by 2-3°C during the next 5 days.

Safdarjung, Delhi’s main weather station, recorded a visibility of 500 metres at 5.30 am, while the visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was 1,000 metres at 6.30 am.

The weather department recorded humidity levels oscillating between 55% and 95% on Monday.

The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 4 pm on Monday was 333, which falls in the “very poor” category.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.