Cold wave conditions abate in Delhi after five days

Cold wave conditions in Delhi abated on Wednesday after five days with a rise in the minimum temperature above 4°C for the first time since Friday even as the intensity of morning fog reduced and the air quality remained very poor.
The lowest visibility recorded in the morning was 200 metres at Palam at 5:30am. Over 600 flights were delayed and 100 cancelled from Sunday to Tuesday as dense fog enveloped the Capital and plunged visibility to zero at times.
Only around 20 flights were delayed with improved visibility on Wednesday. There were no diversions or flight cancellations. Northern Railways said 20 trains either originating from or headed to the capital were delayed by over an hour in the early hours of Wednesday.
The government on Tuesday asked airport officials in Delhi, Mumbai, and four other metros to set up “war rooms” to monitor operations and report any issues three times a day as part of efforts to ease fog-induced chaos.
The flight delays and cancellations also prompted the government to seek acceleration of work on runways undergoing maintenance.
Around 150 flights were affected until 7pm on Tuesday impacting operations across the country as Delhi is the main hub and the most frequent connection point.
India Metrological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said the cold wave was expected to continue for two more days with spells of dense fog likely until Thursday.
On Wednesday, an IMD official cited satellite pictures at 7am and said it showed fog has reduced over Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, northern Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi since Tuesday night.
IMD said most weather stations in Delhi recorded an increase in minimum temperature by 2-3°C. The Safdarjung station, Delhi’s primary, recorded a minimum temperature of 5.7°C or two degrees below normal. It was 3.5°C a day earlier. IMD said the minimum temperature was expected to stay around 5-6°C.
The mercury plunged to 3.5°C on Tuesday, 3.3°C on Monday, 3.5°C on Sunday, 3.6°C on Saturday, and 3.9°C on Friday as Delhi recorded five consecutive cold wave days with the minimum temperature below 4°C.
The air quality improved marginally in comparison to Tuesday. An average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 373 (very poor) was recorded at 9am on Wednesday compared to 377 (very poor) at 4pm on Tuesday.
The AQI was likely to remain very poor until Friday. It was expected to hover between very poor and poor over the next six days.