Dense Delhi Fog Delays 180 Flights as Air Quality Hits 'Very Poor'
Dense Delhi Fog Delays 180 Flights as Air Quality Hits 'Very Poor'
Delhi grapples with dense fog, 180 flight delays and an AQI of 327 as air quality worsens; forecast calls for gradual improvement later in the week.
Dense fog enveloped parts of Delhi, delaying 180 flights on Wednesday as visibility dropped and the air quality slipped into the very poor category. An Air Quality Index (AQI) of 327 was recorded at 9am, higher than the 24-hour average of 272 reported on Tuesday. The morning also saw temperatures dipping, with the minimum at 8.2°C, 0.2 degrees below the normal for the season.
Visibility at the city’s key monitoring points was low: 600m at Palam and 450m at Safdarjung around 9am. Despite the fog, clear skies and sustainable surface winds of 10-20 kmph were forecast to persist for the rest of the day. The minimum temperature is expected to rise by a couple of notches over the next two days as a fresh western disturbance begins to influence the region from Thursday night.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) indicated that the AQI is likely to improve to the ‘poor’ category later on Wednesday, with a return to the ‘moderate’ zone on Thursday and Friday. In the longer term, the outlook for the next six days suggests the air quality could hover in the moderate to poor range depending on wind patterns and local emissions. Sustained surface winds were forecast at 15-25 km per hour for the next three days, with the possibility of shallow fog in the early hours.
Travel disruptions were the most visible impact of the weather conditions, as travelers faced delays and longer check-in times. Authorities advised commuters to monitor weather and air quality updates closely and to plan for potential further disruptions as conditions evolve.
