There will be no letup in the intense cold and dense to very dense fog conditions in the north and north western parts of the country at least the next three to four days. Dense to very dense fog over north and central India has delayed several trains and rescheduled flights in Delhi, Amritsar and Lucknow on Saturday due to poor to zero visibility.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), zero visibility was reported over Delhi, Lucknow and Amritsar due to variable and calm lower-level winds on Saturday. “Zero visibility shown over Delhi, Lucknow and Amritsar...,” the IMD said in a tweet. This is the third time during this winter season that the visibility has dropped to zero in several cities. Dense fog-induced low visibility conditions led to delay of over 40 flights from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here on Saturday. According to airport sources, poor visibility conditions and non-compliant CAT III B trained pilots led to the delays.
According to IMD, Ludhiana, Patiala, Karnal and Aligarh reported visibility-50 meters each at 5.30 pm on Saturday and Bahraich, Gangtok, Cooch Behar-200 each. As regards Delhi and Safdarjung have reported visibility 500 meters while visibility in Palam was reported1000 meters.
The dense fog is likely to persist on Sunday and Monday as well. “Dense to very dense fog at some/many pockets very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan; at isolated pockets over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Bihar during the next two-three days,” the IMD said.
“This will also lead to dense fog conditions with visibility at below 200 metres in the morning hours, which can impact the transport and power sectors,” it said.
Due to the prevalence of dry north and north-westerly winds, minimum temperatures are likely to fall by 2-4 degrees over most parts of northwest India during the next two days. The cold and chilly winter this year is due to the prevailing La Nina condition which is a weather phenomenon caused due to the cooling of the Pacific Ocean. This has led to the drop in temperature and long spells of cold. Also, the western disturbances brought rains and snowfall in the first week of January which has also impacted the weather.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of regional forecasting at the Regional Meteorological Department in Delhi, said that temperatures will begin to rise from January 19. “The La Nina conditions will persist till the first week of February 2021. We expect day temperatures to gradually increase from January-end which will give some respite to people,” he said.
Dense fog also added to extreme cold in Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday, and the weather office forecast no major change during the next five days in the prevailing weather conditions. Srinagar city — the summer capital ofJammu and Kashmir -- recorded a low of minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, down from minus 7.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Cold wave conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday, with Bathinda registering a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. Among other places in Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala braved the chill at 6.5, 7.8 and 6.7 degrees Celsius, respectively, up to three degrees above normal.
In Uttar Pradesh, the lowest temperature in Uttar Pradesh was 2.6 degrees Celsius, recorded at Churk observatory, while Jhansi registered a high of 24.2 degree Celsius -- the highest in the state.
Cold wave conditions continued in Himachal Pradesh with Keylong shivering at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. IMD has predicted dry but cold weather in the state till January 22. Tribal Lahaul and Spiti’s administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh said. Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of zero degrees Celsius, he added.