New Delhi: Winters have finally arrived in North India as temperatures plummeted with heavy fog gripping the Capital and disrupting normal functioning on Tuesday morning.
People shivered under cold climatic conditions in many areas of northwest India as the mercury stayed low following season's first snowfall in Shimla and rain in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab on Tuesday.
Chilly winds swept most parts of the region and the pale yellow Sun, peeping through the skies occasionally, offered little warmth to the people.
No flight operations in IGI airport due to fog
No flight operations took place in the Indira Gandhi International Airport due to dense fog since wee hours this morning.Sources said the thick cover of fog made it impossible for carrying out any flight activities on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, fog also affected vehicular movement in the city.
"At around 0700 hours, the visibility levels dropped to below 500 RVR (the unit used to measure visibility). As a result 30 flights were delayed. Immediately, the CAT III systems were put in force," he added.
However, normal flight operations resumed after a rise in visibility levels at 0845 hours.
Shimla experiences season's first snowfall
Upper areas of Shimla district, including tourist places of Kufri, Fagu, Narkanda and Naldehra, and the key toursit resort of Manali in Kullu district and Dalhousie in Chamba district also experienced snowfall, a report from Shimla said.
Shimla was in the grip of cold wave conditions following snowfall with the minimum plummeting to 0.7 degrees, four degrees below normal, in the capital town.
Tribal districts of Lahaul spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba district also experienced moderate snowfall last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature in the low lying areas. Kalpa in kinnaur district recorded -4.9 degrees celsius.
The mercury stayed low in the plains of Punjab and Haryana. Cold surface winds blew across Ludhiana where the minimum temperature hovered at 4.4 degrees celsius, three degrees below normal. The town also recorded traces of rain overnight.
No relief from cold wave in Rajasthan
Rajasthan shivered under intense cold wave conditions as mercury continued a downward swing with Churu recording a minimum temperature of 4.9 degrees.
Night temperature plummeted to 2-5 degrees below normal in most parts and the Meteorological Department has fore casted a further dip in mercury over the next few days.
The Weatherman attributed these conditions to northern and northwestern winds that have occurred due to snowfall in the northern parts of the country.
The met department says mercury would continue to take a downward swing in the entire of North India.
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