New Delhi: “Severe” cold in most parts of north India on Monday brought one of the coldest days in the capital Delhi this year. A thick blanket of fog enveloped large parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains, blocking the sun and keeping the mercury levels low. The Meteorological Department has predicted that the condition will continue in the region for the next few days.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that cold wave conditions are likely to prevail in parts of North Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi for the next three days and Himachal Pradesh for the next two days.
Dense layer of fog continued to spread from Punjab to Haryana-Delhi, North Rajasthan and Western UP via Eastern UP. the weather agency said.
The agency’s evening forecast on Monday also predicted dense to very dense fog over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and western Rajasthan over the next two days. But fog is expected in some parts of Punjab during the next three days.
Snowfall in the mountains: Skymet Weather Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change) Mahesh Palawat said that due to Western Disturbance, there was snowfall again in the mountains on December 25-26 and after the cold, cold northwesterly winds are blowing in the plains. Huh.
“Dense to very dense fog followed due to increase in the moisture level due to WD, reducing the sunshine, which further brought down the day temperature,” he said. Palawat said the wind chill factor – a measure of the rate of heat loss from skin that is exposed to wind – is also high.
The higher the wind speed in cold weather, the cooler the skin feels if a person is outside.
Delhi: Delhi is reeling under severe cold wave with maximum temperature falling 10 degrees below normal. Meteorologists have attributed the sharp drop in day temperature to cold north-westerly winds blowing across the plains and reduction in sunshine due to foggy weather.
Dense fog reduced visibility to 50 meters in some areas in Delhi, affecting road and rail traffic. A railway spokesperson said that 10 trains were reported to be running late by 1.45 to 3.30 hours.
The mercury in the Ridge region dropped to 3 degrees Celsius, 4.9 degrees below normal, making it the coldest place in the national capital. The Ridge and Ayanagar weather stations recorded minimum temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius and 4.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. The Palam observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 12.5 degrees Celsius, nine notches below normal.
Automatic weather stations at Ayanagar, Lodhi Road, Ridge, Najafgarh, Pitampura and Mayur Vihar recorded maximum temperatures six to eight degrees below normal.
The wind blew at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour in Delhi on Monday. Visuals from Delhi Noida Direct Way and Bara Pulla showed that a thick layer of fog enveloped the area, disrupting traffic movement.
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh: Many parts of Punjab and Haryana recorded severe cold and dense fog, with Narnaul being the coldest in the region at 2.4 degrees Celsius.
Haryana’s Hisar recorded severe cold and the minimum temperature dropped to 2.5 degrees Celsius. Ambala recorded minimum temperature of 7.7 degree Celsius, Karnal 6.8 degree Celsius, Rohtak 6.6 degree Celsius, Bhiwani 5.5 degree Celsius and Sirsa 5.2 degree Celsius.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum temperature of 7.4 degrees Celsius.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded 6.5 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 6 degrees Celsius, Pathankot 8.8 degrees Celsius, Bathinda 3.6 degrees Celsius, Faridkot 6 degrees Celsius and Gurdaspur 4.5 degrees Celsius.
Rajasthan: Bitter cold and fog affected normal life in parts of Rajasthan on Monday.
According to the Meteorological Department, at minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, Fatehpur was recorded as the coldest place in the desert state, followed by Churu and Pilani (Jhunjhunu) at minus 0 degrees Celsius and 0.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Karauli and Sikar recorded a minimum of 0.5 and 1 degree Celsius, while the night temperature was 2 degrees in Alwar, 2.4 in Bikaner, 2.7 in Bhilwara, 3 in Nagaur, 4.4 in Sriganganagar, Sangaria (Hanumangarh) and Banasthali (Tonk), 4.5. Degree entered. Dholpur and Anta (Baran), Chittorgarh recorded 4.7, Dabok (Udaipur) 5, Phalodi (Jodhpur) 5.2 and Bundi 5.5 degrees Celsius.
Most places in the state recorded maximum temperatures between 16 and 25 degrees Celsius.
According to the IMD, ‘very dense’ fog occurs when the visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 meters ‘dense’, 201 and 500 ‘moderate’ and 501 and 1,000 ‘shallow’. In the plains, the IMD declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature drops to 4 degrees Celsius. Cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or less and is 4.5 degrees below normal.
A ‘severe’ cold wave occurs when the minimum temperature drops by two degrees Celsius or the departure from normal exceeds 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Schools closed in UP, Bihar: In view of cold wave conditions in Bihar’s Patna, schools have been closed for students up to class 8 from Monday, the district magistrate said in a notice. “In view of the cold wave conditions, schools in Patna will remain closed for students up to class 8 from December 26 to December 31,” said the DM.
Due to the cold wave, schools have also been closed in two districts of Uttar Pradesh. The decision to close the schools was taken by the district magistrates of Bijnor and Badaun districts to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.