Foggy Morning Grips Delhi, Light Rain Predicted on January 11

New Delhi: A dense fog shrouded the national capital on Saturday morning, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of cloudy skies and light rain in the region for the next two days. The cold wave conditions are expected to persist, leaving residents bundled up for the day.

The IMD has issued a forecast of cloud cover and light drizzle during the morning hours of January 11 and 12, with temperatures continuing to plummet. As of early Saturday, the city's temperature dropped as low as 1 degree Celsius, making it challenging for commuters on the roads.

Delhi's minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to be between 6-8 degrees Celsius and 18-22 degrees Celsius, respectively. While the fog is expected to clear gradually by the afternoon, a prolonged light drizzle may cause travel disruptions.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport issued an advisory at 6 am on Saturday, warning that flights without CAT III certification might be affected due to low visibility. However, flight operations were reported to run smoothly, with officials putting in place measures to handle low-visibility conditions.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has reinstated Stage III restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) ahead of scheduled air quality monitoring on Friday evening due to the declining air quality levels. This move comes after the restrictions were lifted following an improvement in weather conditions over the past few days.

In a related development, visibility conditions varied across the city, with Safdarjung seeing readings as low as 50 meters at one point before improving to 200 meters. Palam reported zero visibility for nearly three hours until 2 am on Saturday.

Residents can expect a chilly start to their day with minimum temperatures predicted to drop further, reaching around 5 degrees Celsius by the coming days. The Delhi-NCR will need to wait and watch closely as this cold snap continues.