Fri Jan 17 08:43:24 UTC 2025: ## Delhi Chokes Under Dense Fog, Cold Wave; Orange Alert Issued
**New Delhi, January 13, 2024** – Delhi woke up to another day of dense fog and a biting cold wave on Friday, with visibility significantly reduced in many parts of the capital. The minimum temperature dipped slightly to 8.8 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above normal. This is a slight decrease from Thursday’s 10.3 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Friday and a yellow alert for the weekend, warning of moderate to dense fog. Visibility at Palam plummeted to zero between 9:30 PM Thursday and 3:00 AM Friday, according to the IMD, due to westerly winds blowing at 8-10 km/h. Visibility improved to 50 meters by 7:30 AM and 100 meters by 8:30 AM at Palam. At Safdarjung, visibility remained at 200 meters from 1:30 PM onwards due to calm winds.
Despite the reduced visibility, no flights were cancelled or diverted at Delhi’s airports. However, the IMD predicts further temperature drops, potentially reaching 6 degrees Celsius by January 19, before a western disturbance is expected to raise temperatures again. Another western disturbance is forecast to hit Northwest India from January 18, potentially bringing light rain to Delhi on January 21.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality improved slightly to “poor” (AQI 294) on Friday morning, down from “very poor” (AQI 302) on Thursday evening and “very poor” (AQI 386) on Wednesday evening.
First Piper 