‘March ke end mai Delhi mai fog?’: Delhi-NCR wakes up to rare thick fog after rainfall

Delhi and the surrounding NCR region woke up on Saturday to a rare thick blanket of fog, reducing visibility and giving the city an unusual, winter-like feel for this time of year.The Air Quality Index (AQI) also fell to a ‘satisfactory’ level, marking the lowest reading in five months. (Sakshi Sah/Hindustan Times)The fog followed a spell of light rain and mild thunderstorms, accompanied gusty winds, which brought a noticeable dip in temperatures across the capital and surrounding regions.Residents welcomed the sudden cool weather and thick fog, describing it as refreshing and a pleasant break from the recent warm spell. Many took to social media to share photos of the unusual foggy morning.The rain and fog also had a silver lining for air quality. The Air Quality Index (AQI) fell to a ‘satisfactory’ level, marking the lowest reading in five months, according to reports from PTI.Also Read: ‘Feels like Shimla’: Delhiites react as heavy rain, thunder lash Delhi-NCR, some call it ‘pralay’Check out what residents shared online:A second user shared a screenshot showing Delhi’s temperature at 8 am at 16 °C, marking a noticeable drop.Another user, Neha Sharma, shared a post on X which read: “March ke end mai Delhi mai fog. Iss month mai sare weather dekh liye.”A video shared the news agency, PTI, showed the Akshardham Temple area covered in thick fog on Saturday morning following evening rainfall.Weather update:According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 16 degrees Celsius on Friday, about half a degree below normal.The maximum temperature at Safdarjung hovered around 21.7 degrees Celsius, nearly 10 degrees below average. This made it the coldest March day in the city in six years, evoking memories of winter even as the summer season approaches.This March has now become the wettest in Delhi over the past three years, with the city recording an average rainfall of 9.4 mm. The showers came after a brief warm spell and were accompanied occasional thunderstorms and lightning, reinforcing the winter-like atmosphere. The last time the city experienced such cold in March was on 8 February 2020.Looking ahead, the IMD forecasts that Delhi will continue to see mostly cloudy skies over the next week. There is a possibility of very light rain, thunderstorms, and lightning at the beginning of next week, keeping the weather unsettled.As per the Sameer app, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) is currently 94, which falls in the ‘satisfactory’ category.