A large number of tourists are flocking to the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh ahead of the New Year. While other North Indian states are engulfed in fog, Himachal Pradesh is witnessing clear skies and pleasant weather conditions. The tourists are rushing to skate at Kufri.
As the icy chill prevailed in the North Indian belt, the India Metrological Department (IMD) on Saturday recorded minimum temperatures in the range of 7-10°C over most parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, UP and north Rajasthan.
The winter chill continues to grip North India, as cities such as Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Sambalpur in Odisha faced cold waves, engulfed in dense fog on Saturday morning.
Braving the bitter cold and the early-morning fog, the forces were seen marching to drumbeats during dress rehearsals for the 75th Republic Day parade at the Kartavya Path in the national capital on Saturday.
Cold weather conditions along with moderate fog prevailed in many regions of the Delhi-NCR on Saturday. The minimum temperature recorded in the national capital was 10.7 degrees Celsius.
According to the IMD, "The visibility recorded (at 1730 hours IST of today)(<=500 m): Uttarakhand: Pantnagar-200; Punjab: Ludhiana-200; Haryana: Bhivani-500; Delhi: Safdarjung-500; UP: Bareilly, Bahraich and Prayagraj-200 each, Aligarh, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Fursatganj, Babatpur & Sultanpu
Fog is categorised as "very dense" when the visibility goes below 50 metres. On the other hand, if the visibility is between 51 to 200 metres, it is considered "dense" fog and "moderate" fog prevails when the visibility is between 201 and 500 meters.
Due to the thick fog, several flights in the Delhi Airport were delayed. The low visibility also delayed arrival and departure of several Delh-bound trains.
An INSAT (Indian National Satellite System) imagery released by the Met department on Thursday depicted fog hovering over the North India region.
The satellite image taken at 1430 hrs (IST), showed a fog layer continuing over Punjab, Haryana, extreme north Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and north