Cold, foggy weather in Delhi, flights delayed & air quality 'severe'

New Delhi, Dec 23: As extensive regions of Northern India grappled with the impact of plummeting temperatures, a dense fog blanketed the national capital on Saturday, leading to low visibility affecting flights.

The reduced visibility resulted in notable disturbances to flight schedules at the Delhi airport, where the Flight Information Display System reported delays for 11 international and five domestic flights on Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department noted that the minimum temperature dropped to 9.6 degrees Celsius, which is two notches below the seasonal average.

The weather department predicted that on Saturday the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23 degree Celsius while there will be shallow fog.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national Capital was recorded under the ‘severe’ category on Saturday morning.

The air quality at Anand Vihar entered the ‘severe’ category with PM 2.5 and PM 10 at 500, while the NO2 reached 118, or moderate, the CO was at 65 or ‘satisfactory levels', as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The Bawana station recorded PM 2.5 and PM 10 at 500, both in the ‘severe’ category, while the CO reached 104 or ‘moderate’ levels.

The AQI monitoring station at Dwarka Sector 8 recorded PM 2.5 at 500 and PM 10 at 467, both in the ‘severe' category while the CO was at 105, in ‘moderate’ levels.

The AQI at the ITO station was in the ‘severe’ category with PM 2.5 at 500 and PM 10 at 463, the NO2 plunged to 142 and CO was at 104, both in the ‘moderate' level.

The PM 2.5 and PM 10 at Okhla Phase-II was recorded at 500, both in the severe category. The NO2 was at 146 and CO was at 107, both in ‘moderate’ levels.

At IGI Airport quality monitoring station, the PM 2.5 was recorded at 481 and PM 10 reached at 445, both in the 'severe' category while CO reached at 115, in the 'moderate' category.