Cold wave, dense fog engulf North India, temperature to further go down

Early in the morning, Delhi is covered in a heavy layer of fog, which reduces visibility by about 100 metres. On the morning of December 22, visibility at the Palam observatory reached 100 metres., Dr Kuldeep Srivastava said.

There is a probability of intense fog in Delhi-NCR on December 23-24, with visibility of about 100 metres, Srivastava said. For the next two to three days, the temperature will hover around 6-7 degrees, he added. In Rajasthan’s Bikaner, the lowest temperature on December 22 was recorded at 4.6 degrees, he said.

“We have fixed criteria for the formation of fog. A layer, availability of moisture along with less wind speed are the criterion. From Punjab up to Bihar and till Gigantic West Bengal and Northern parts of Rajasthan, the wind speed in the morning hours is less which is 2-3 km per hour along with sufficient availability of moisture, and during the day time, we have a clear sky,” Srivastava told ANI.

There is now no cold wave condition in the plains, but starting on December 24 or 25, temperatures in Punjab, Haryana and North Rajasthan are expected to drop by 1-2 degrees; Cold waves will be felt in some areas.

The weather is really cold right now. You can see that on extremely cold days, the maximum temperature is consistently 4.5 degrees lower than the average. In Punjab, Haryana, North West UP and North Rajasthan, the current state of affairs will continue for the next two days, as per Srivastava.

On December 21, up to 20 trains were delayed by a few hours because of fog-induced reduced visibility. Class 1 through 8 in Lucknow had their school hours changed from 10 am to 3 pm until December 31 due to the cold wave.

(With agency inputs)