Dense fog envelopes Delhi, road traffic affected

New Delhi, Jan 27: Dense fog enveloped the skyline in the Capital today plummeting visibility levels and causing traffic jams in many areas even as warmth in the Delhi air continued with the mercury rising to 9.4 degrees Celsius.

After a clear sky in Delhi over the last two weeks, visibility levels dropped to as low as 200 m at 0700 hrs today due to the dense fog.

The fog, which persisted till about 0900 hours, caused traffic jams in several areas. Flights schedules at the international airport, however, remained unaffected though low visibility procedures had to be put in force.

''Low visibility procedures were put in force as the runway visibility range fell to 725 m at 0700 hours. The LVP was, however, discontinued after the RVR rose to 1150 m. No flights were, however, cancelled, diverted or rescheduled,'' a spokesperson for the Airports Authority of India said.

Meanwhile, the mercury, continuing with its upwards movement since Wednesday, today rose to 9.4 Degrees C, one degree above normal.

Though South-Easterly winds maintained some chill in the air in the morning hours, the warmth in the air continued.

The cold wave sweeping through Delhi over the past three weeks has abated since Wednesday with the considerable rise in minimum temperature from 5.3 degrees C on Monday, to 9.4 degrees C and maximum temperature from 21 degrees C last Sunday to nearly 24 degrees C .

The rise in minimum temperature indicates that after three consecutive weekends of severe chill, Delhi could finally witness a warm weekend.

Infact, weather experts have forecast a sharp rise in minimum temperature to 10 degrees C tomorrow and 11 degrees C on Monday.

The met office has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with possibility of thunder or light rain in some areas.

UNI