New Delhi: Widespread fog significantly reduced visibility to zero meters in several locations across north and northeast India, leading to disruptions in rail traffic, according to officials.
Satellite imagery indicated some reduction in fog over Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Nevertheless, dense to very dense fog persisted in parts of Punjab, Haryana, west Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Assam.
A spokesperson for the Indian Railways reported delays of up to six hours for 18 trains arriving in Delhi due to the foggy weather.
As of 5:30 am, visibility levels were recorded at 25 meters in Patiala, Amritsar, Ambala, Hisar, Bikaner, and Purnia, and 50 meters in Churu, Ganganagar, Jhansi, Ranchi, Paradip, and Lakhimpur.
Near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi, the Palam Observatory reported limited visibility of only 50 meters at that time, improving to 350 meters by 8:30 am.
Over the past fortnight, early-morning foggy weather in north and northeast India has severely impacted road, rail, and air traffic.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts the persistence of ‘dense’ to ‘very dense’ fog and ‘cold day’ to ‘severe cold day’ conditions in north India for the next five days.
The IMD statement further mentioned, “Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are likely to continue over northwest India for five days.”
In the plains, the Meteorological Office designates a ‘cold wave’ if the minimum temperature drops to 4 degrees Celsius or when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees or below, with a deviation of four-and-a-half notches below normal.
A ‘severe cold wave’ occurs when the minimum temperature drops to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal is more than 6.4 degrees.
Additionally, a ‘cold day’ is declared when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius below normal, and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees below normal.
A ‘severe cold day’ is defined as when the maximum temperature is 6.5 degrees Celsius or more below normal.
The region is expected to experience challenging weather conditions in the coming days.
