North India braces for cold wave again, mercury may dip to 2 degrees in Delhi

After a brief respite, Delhi and other parts of northern India are back in the grip of cold wave conditions. The weather office has forecast a sharp fall in temperature in the coming days, with a cold wave predicted between Monday and Wednesday.

Foggy conditions were back as well, with Palam recording a visibility of 200 meters on Sunday. Some flights scheduled to depart from Delhi’s IGI Airport were delayed due to low visibility, news agency ANI reported. Northern Railway officials said at least 20 trains were running late.

The minimum temperature in Safdarjung early on Sunday was 5.6 degree Celsius. Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also recorded cold wave conditions and foggy weather. Churu in Rajasthan recorded a minimum temperature of -0.7 degrees Celsius, while Fatehpur in the state recorded -3.5 degrees, but the latter was yet to be corroborated.

Also read: How Delhi’s poor are grappling with freezing cold

Fog forecast

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier predicted temperatures to dip in Delhi-NCR from Sunday. Between Monday and Wednesday, the mercury may dip up to 3 degrees Celsius in Ayanagar and Ridge areas.

According to weather agency Skymet, Delhi may record a minimum of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius between January 16 and 18. It may dip to 2 degrees in isolated pockets. The IMD has also predicted dense to very dense fog in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and UP over the coming five days.

In Kashmir, avalanche warnings have been issued for several regions, with a “high danger” alert for Kupwara, and “medium danger” for eight districts. Already, an avalanche hit a village in Gurez, Bandipora district, on Saturday. In Ganderbal district’s Sonamarg, two labourers from Kishtwar died when an avalanche hit a construction site on Thursday.

(With agency inputs)