Skies in Delhi remain fogged out even as chill continues

New Delhi, Jan 2 (UNI) Dense fog enveloped the Delhi skyline for the second consecutive day today even as the severe chill sweeping through the Capital city continued to put Delhiites "in a freeze".

After yesterday's sharp dip in visibility, the skies in Delhi continued to be "fogged out" this morning, playing havoc with flight schedules at the International airport for the second consecutive day.

Also, a severe chill continued to sweep through Delhi with cold Northwesterly winds contributing to the chilly weather conditions.

The maximum temperature rose just slightly, from the season's lowest of 14 Degree Celsius yesterday, to 17.2 Degree C, which was five Degrees below normal. The minimum was recorded at 8.6 Degree C.

The dense fog, which reduced visibility below 100m in the early hours this morning, led to cancellation of as many as 50 domestic flights, scheduled to depart from the International airport.

''While 50 domestic flights scheduled to depart from the airport were cancelled, 36 domestic arrivals had to be cancelled due to poor visibility. Also cancelled were one International departure and one International arrival,''a spokesperson of the Airports Authority of India said.

Arrival and departure of 30 flights, including eight International flights, were rescheduled due to fog.

''The dense fog, which plummeted visibility to near zero on the night of December 31, did not abate till this morning with the result that the low visibility procedures had to be put into operation till the forenoon,''he said.

He said the low visibility procedures have been in operation since 2042 hrs on December 31.

The situation, however, improved after noon with the bright sunlight in the sky leading to the abating of the fog.

The next few days could witness a further abatement of fog with weathermen forecasting that the intensity of fog over the region is likely to reduce during next 2-3 days.

Also likely to abate during the next 24 hours are the cold wave conditions in Delhi.

For, even though night temperatures are likely to fall over plains of Northwest India during the next 24 hours, they are likely to witness a rise thereafter.

Weathermen have forecast a drop in minimum temperature to 7 Degree C. They have also forecast a mist and shallow fog in the morning and a clear sky afterwards.

UNI