New Delhi, December 16: A thick blanket of dense fog continued to engulf parts of Delhi on Wednesday morning with the minimum temperature expected to be 4 degrees Celsius today. The maximum temperature in the national capital is expected to touch 18 degree Celsius on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Delhi is reeling cold wave as the icy winds blow from snow-covered western Himalayas. The dense fog in the national capital also reduced visibility, thus affecting flight operations at the Delhi airport. Experts believe that the  visibility should be around 800 metres at the airport for flights to take off. La Nina in India: Country to Witness More Cyclones, Relatively Colder Winter This Year, Says IMD.

On Saturday, the IMD had issued an orange alert for “dense to very dense fog” on both Sunday and Monday. Fog is classified as “dense” when visibility drops below 200 metres and “very dense” when it is less than 50 metres. The IMD in its all India weather forecast on Tuesday had said that fall in minimum temperatures by three to five degree Celsius is expected over most parts of northwest India during the next four days.

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Apart from Delhi, cold conditions intensified in parts of north India on Tuesday and dense fog engulfed many states. Delhi recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far while night temperatures in Kashmir dipped below the freezing point. Foggy conditions were reported in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2020 08:26 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).