Delhi wakes up to dense fog on Thursday

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) Residents of Delhi-NCR woke up to dense fog on Thursday, with the maximum and minimum temperatures dipping to 19 and 6 degrees Celsius, respectively, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Dense fog was reported at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport since 4.30 a.m. with a visibility of 50-100 metres, while Safdarjung saw and moderate fog of 300 metres since 7 a.m, which continued till 10 a.m.

The IMD said that dense fog in some isolated pockets in the night and morning hours was also very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh in the next two to three days.

Meanwhile, this entire week, the maximum and minimum temperatures in the national capital will hover around 18 to 5 degrees Celsius.

January 17 can be a cold day with the minimum temperature dipping till 5 degrees Celsius, IMD said, adding that the capital city is likely to receive light rain accompanied by thunderstorm on January 19.

Meanwhile, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) at 10 a.m. stood under the 'moderate' category at 142, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research's (SAFAR) estimates.

The level of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollutants stood in the 'moderate' and 'poor' categories of 117 and 201, respectively.

The air quality over Delhi-NCT is likely to remain in the lower end of the 'very poor' category on January 14.