Delhi woke up to the coldest morning of this winter on Thursday as the temperature dipped to 4.5 degrees Celcius and even lower in certain areas in the national capital.
Fog remains an issue in several states as it is affecting the visibility for transportations. At least 24 flights were affected due to low visibility at the Kolkata airport in West Bengal on Wednesday.
Delhi woke up to the coldest morning of this winter on Thursday as the temperature dipped to 4.5 degrees Celcius and even lower in certain areas in the national capital.
With the onset of winter, Indian states have observed rain, snowfall and severe cold conditions including Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Karnatakaand Himachal Pradesh. Heavy rains in several areas of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday in including Chennai led to the closure of schools today.
Fog remains an issue in several states as it is affecting the visibility for transportations. At least 24 flights were affected due to low visibility at the Kolkata airport in West Bengal on Wednesday.
Delhi recorded its lowest temperature of the winter season so far on Thursday, with the minimum dipping to 4.5°C. Cold wave conditions were observed in areas like Ayanagar and Pusa, where temperatures dropped to 3.8°C and 3.2°C, respectively.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) defines cold wave conditions when temperatures fall below 4.1°C or when the temperature deviation from normal exceeds 4.4°C.
On Wednesday, Delhi's minimum temperature was 4.9°C, marking the first time in 14 years that early December temperatures have been below 5°C. The coldest December temperature on record was 4.1°C on December 6, 1987.
The IMD predicts a clear sky for the day, with a maximum temperature around 23°C. Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the poor category, with an AQI of 262 at 9 AM, compared to 199 in the moderate category the previous day.
Widespread rains lashed parts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, prompting authorities to declare a holiday for schools in Chennai and many other districts.
Overnight rains lashed Chennai and the neighbouring Tiruvallur, Chengelpet and Kancheepuram, besides Villupuram and some areas in the Cauvery delta region.
Following sharp showers, authorities declared a day's holiday for schools in districts, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengelpet, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai and Cuddalore.
The regional weather office has forecast more spells of rain in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengelpet and Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur districts in the state, besides the neighbouring union territory Puducherry.
The higher reaches of Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Wednesday, even as the minimum temperature increased across the valley, officials said.
Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Gurez sector received fresh snowfall on Wednesday afternoon as intermittent snowfall continued in the other areas in the higher reaches of the valley, they said.
The weather office said light rain or snow is expected at scattered places, especially in the higher reaches of the valley till Thursday forenoon as a fresh western disturbance hit Jammu and Kashmir otherwise, the weather will stay mainly dry till December 18.
Meanwhile, the night temperatures increased across the valley, including Srinagar, owing to overcast skies. However, the minimum temperature continued to settle below the freezing point across the Kashmir valley.
Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3 degrees Celsius, up from the season's lowest of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius, an increase of three degrees from last night.
Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius,? a huge improvement from the previous night's minus 8.4 degrees Celsius, they said.
Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara in north Kashmir registered a minimum of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius, and Kokernag in south Kashmir minus two degrees Celsius.
While the higher reaches of Kashmir have experienced snowfall, there has been no snowfall in the plains so far this season.
Kashmir is reeling under cold conditions and the valley is bracing for the 40-day harshest winter period which will begin on December 21.Fr
In Rajasthan, Sikar was the coldest in the state on Tuesday night with 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature at several places in the state ranged between 1.5 and 10.8 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said.
The weather across the state remained mostly dry, it said, adding that extreme cold wave conditions were reported in one or two locations, while cold wave conditions were observed in several others.
Flight operations at Kolkata’s NSCBI airport were disrupted on Wednesday morning due to dense fog, affecting at least 24 flights. This was the first instance of such dense fog this winter season.
The poor visibility caused the cancellation of West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s helicopter visit to Farakka and delayed 18 domestic and two international flights.
Four flights, including those from Bangalore, Mumbai, and Bangkok, were diverted to other airports like Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar.
Flight operations were halted between 4:18 AM and 6:16 AM, with low visibility procedures (LVP) declared at 4:38 AM. LVP, activated when visibility drops below 800 meters, ensures safe aircraft movement with advanced navigation systems and ground lighting.
These procedures were lifted at 10:22 AM after visibility improved.