Weather News

This year's monsoon in Delhi is expected to be the longest (exceeding 120 days) in over 50 years (the previous record was 111 days). This time the withdrawal of monsoon is also expected to be delayed, which could spoil Durga Puja and Navratri celebrations in Delhi.

Due to dense fog spread across Delhi-NCR, a bus on Tuesday reportedly rammed into a truck on the Yamuna Expressway and killed four people. The fog also resulted in delay of trains coming to or going out of Delhi. Operations at IGI airport also came to a standstill with the fog affecting 74 domestic and 25 international flights.

The season's first snowfall in Srinagar and in the major towns of the valley, like Badgam and Kupwara, brought cheer across the Kashmir Valley, and residents greeted relatives and friends Sunday morning. The 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country, has been closed for vehicular traffic due to snowfall and slippery conditions.

Due to season's first snowfall on Sunday, two women named Dilshada Banu (15) and Sahfiqa Bano (18) were buried under a snow avalanche in Kupwara district of north Kashmir. The incident happened when both of them were getting drinking water from Kishanganga river. The body of Dilshada was recovered from the snow, while search for Sahfiqa was still on.

As per reports, one international flight was cancelled while one domestic flight was diverted Tuesday at the IGI Airport (Delhi), as only one of two main runways was operational due to dense fog. Moreover, three international flights and six domestic flights were delayed. Delhi is reeling under shivering cold as temperature fell six degrees below the normal temperature on Monday.

Delhi and Leh were among some of the places in northern India that recorded their lowest minimum temperatures so far this winter as the cold gained in intensity. While the national capital saw the mercury dipping to 4.5 degrees Celsius, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed extreme cold with the temperature plummeting to season's lowest of -17.3 degrees in Ladakh's Leh.

On Monday, Delhi recorded the lowest minimum temperature (2.4 degrees) in a decade for the month of December. Monday's minimum was five degrees below normal. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, low temperatures are expected to persist for the next 24-48 hours. The weather condition is similar throughout north India.

Northern Railway has decided to suspend services of 10 trains till January 16 to avoid mishaps caused by foggy weather conditions. Services of Jharkhand Sampark Kranti Express, Howrah-Delhi Express, Lichchavi Express, Garhwal Express, Varanasi-Dehradun and Ajmer-Amritsar Express among others will remain cancelled, according to a senior railway official. Besides, Railways has also effected partial cancellation of three pairs of trains.