Fog delays 112 flights in Delhi; rain ends longest dry spell in Kashmir Valley

New Delhi: Dense fog cover hit the rail and air traffic hard in northern parts of the country delaying over 100 flights, and a similar number of trains, from the national capital alone, even as some areas in the Kashmir Valley received rains ending five-month-long dry spell.
In the national capital, 112 flights were delayed because of the foggy conditions with visibility remaining below 50 metre between 2.30am and 8.30am, official said.
Visibility was 100 metre at 5.30am at Safdarjung which dipped again to 50 metre at 8.30am before improving to 1,200 metre three hours later.
Railway officials said 50 trains were running late while 47 were rescheduled. The minimum temperature was 9.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, while the maximum settled at 24 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average.
Meanwhile, high-altitude areas of Kashmir received snowfall and parts of plains recorded rain ending five-month dry spell, the longest in four decades. Leh continued to remain the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 10.5 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kargil town recorded a dip of almost two degrees in the night temperature, which settled at minus 9.3 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg witnessed about five inches of snowfall since the wee hours, much to the delight of the visitors who have come in good numbers. They said about one-feet snowfall was recorded in the peripheral areas of the resort, including Khilanmarg, Kongdoori and Apperwath.
In Punjab and Haryana, where fog reduced visibility at some places, the minimum temperature remained a few notches above normal. In Rajasthan, lower visibility forced delay of over 30 trains, the maximum by upto 8 hours 55 minutes, while Ajmer- Sealdah and Jaisalmer-Kathgodam express were resechduled. Night temperatures in the state changed marginally with Phalodi being the coldest place at 6 degrees Celsius. The MeT department has predicted rain and snowfall at isolated and hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.
A department bulletin said the conditions will engulf the state by Wednesday, leading to a steep fall in day and night temperatures. Himachal Pradesh will witness widespread rain till January 7 due to western disturbances over northeast Afghanistan and north Pakistan, it said.
Uttar Pradesh witnessed dry weather with fog continuing to disrupt normal life in many parts of the state where Muzaffarnagar remained the coldest at 6.8 degrees Celsius. After a sunny day on Tuesday, Patna may witness a foggy morning ton Wednesday followed by partly cloudy sky later in the day.