North India shivers as cold wave tightens grip, fog reduces visibility in Delhi

Dense fog continued to cover Delhi-NCR on Friday as minimum temperatures witnessed a dip in the region.

The national capital experienced severe cold day conditions on Thursday, with temperatures falling by 6 degree Celsius, according to the Safdarjung weather station.

In other parts of north India such as Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, and East Rajasthan, dense to very dense fog conditions are likely to persist for several hours during the night and morning till January 6. Isolated pockets may experience these conditions on January 7, followed by dense fog in scattered areas for the next two days.

On Thursday, cold day to severe cold day conditions occurred in many places over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Rajasthan, and West Madhya Pradesh, and in isolated pockets over East Rajasthan and East Madhya Pradesh.

In the national capital, the mercury touched a maximum of 12.5 degrees Celsius — 6.8 degrees below normal — at the Safdarjung observatory on Thursday.

The minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to rise by 2-4 degrees from Sunday onwards under the influence of warm and moist southwesterly winds, the weather office said.

Parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, southern Haryana and southern Uttar Pradesh are expected to get light to very light rainfall early next week.

According to the weather department’s forecast for this week, a gradual increase in minimum temperatures by 2-3 degree Celsius is likely over East India in the first half of the week.

There is a high probability of cold wave conditions occurring in isolated pockets across Punjab, Haryana, and North Rajasthan, with a moderate likelihood in Uttar Pradesh, other parts of Rajasthan, and North Madhya Pradesh, primarily during the initial half of the week.