The minimum temperature in Delhi dropped to 3 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the lowest in January in two years, while dense fog significantly lowered visibility in the National Capital, reported PTI.
The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded even lower temperatures of 2.8 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees Celsius and 2.8 degrees Celsius respectively, reported the news agency.
Dense fog over north India, including Delhi, caused major inconvenience to commuters on Thursday. In Delhi, visibility levels were reduced to 50 metres around 5:30 am.
Twelve trains were delayed by one-and-a-half to six hours and two trains were rescheduled on Thursday due to the foggy weather, an unidentified Railways spokesperson told PTI.
Delhi airport authority also issued an advisory on Thursday asking passengers to contact concerned airlines for updated flight information due to foggy weather.
The India Meteorological Department on Thursday said that the lowest temperature in the last 24 hours was recorded in Rajasthan’s Churu and Sikar districts at -1.5 degrees Celsius. The weather department has also predicted severe cold wave conditions in parts of Rajasthan.
The IMD also said that ground frost conditions may be observed in parts of Rajasthan in the next 48 hours and in parts of Haryana in the next 24 hours.
A severe cold wave occurs when the minimum temperature drops to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal temperature is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, cold wave conditions will continue to prevail for the next 48 hours in Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and west Uttar Pradesh, the weather agency said.
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