New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of persistent fog over the next five days in parts of northwest India. Dense to very dense fog is likely to blanket isolated pockets during the morning hours, impacting visibility and travel.
Furthermore, the IMD predicted favorable conditions for the cessation of the northeast monsoon from India around January 15. This signals a shift from the winter monsoon to the drier summer season.
In its daily weather bulletin, the IMD detailed the specific areas affected by the foggy conditions. Dense to very dense fog is expected to linger for a few hours in the mornings in various parts of Punjab and in isolated pockets of Haryana and Chandigarh until January 15. Similar conditions are predicted for parts of east Uttar Pradesh on Friday, with the intensity easing to dense fog over the next three days in both east and west Uttar Pradesh.
Cold weather will continue to grip some regions alongside the fog. Cold Day to Severe Cold Day conditions are likely to persist in pockets of Punjab and Haryana-Chandigarh on Friday, with the chill lingering in isolated parts of Punjab until January 15. Additionally, isolated pockets of Uttarakhand may experience Cold Day conditions on Friday.
Meanwhile, a thick blanket of fog enveloped the northern and eastern parts of India on Thursday, disrupting flights, trains, and road traffic. The heavy mist created a hazardous morning commute for millions, reducing visibility to near zero in some areas.
The railways bore the brunt of the disruption, with at least 24 trains approaching Delhi experiencing delays and cancellations. Passengers faced long waits and uncertainty as the fog blanketed tracks and obscured signals.
The IMD reported varying degrees of fog intensity across the affected regions. “Very dense” fog, with visibility less than 50 meters, descended upon isolated pockets of Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, and Tripura.
Meanwhile, Delhi, Jammu, Haryana, and parts of East Uttar Pradesh faced “dense” fog, reducing visibility to a range of 50 to 200 meters. Even moderate fog impacted some areas of North Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh.
Specific locations like Punjab’s Bhatinda and Agra in Uttar Pradesh saw visibility drop to a chilling zero meters. Tripura’s Agartala fared slightly better with 25 meters, while Jammu, Hisar in Haryana, Varanasi and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Sagar and Satna in Madhya Pradesh, Purnea in Bihar, and Assam’s Tezpur struggled with visibility hovering around 50 meters. Adding to the travel woes, parts of the northern plains experienced unusually low maximum temperatures compared to the hills on January 9 and 10. This phenomenon is attributed to a persistent layer of fog that has been hovering over the plains since December 27, blocking sunshine and trapping cold air.
“Therefore, maximum temperatures in some cases have been lower than the hills where the skies are clearer,” explained Kuldeep Srivatava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre.