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An incoming western disturbance observed yesterday refused to move further East (to North Pakistan and across the border into North-West India) as expected, but had not weakened either this (Wednesday) morning. An extended stay normally weakens the system, more so if followed close on its heels by another.
Mercury to dip gradually over North
A pair of unrelated cyclonic circulations were perched over West Rajasthan and Haryana this morning ahead of the disturbance. Although no significant change in the mercury levels is indicated until tomorrow (Thursday) over North, Central and West India, minimum (night) temperatures will gradually dip by 2-4 degrees Celsius over these areas during the subsequent two days (Friday and Saturday).
As for today, dense fog has been forecast for East India, in parts, over Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Cold day conditions (where the maximum does not go beyond 16 degrees Celsius) have been forecast for parts of West Uttar Pradesh. This is basically because of the lack of cloud cover associated with a western disturbance, which otherwise helps trap the solar radiation from escaping into the higher levels of the atmosphere. Lack of clouds would therefore allow the cold air in the upper levels to weigh in over the ground and bring down temperatures. Any hint of moisture in the air would convert itself to fog.
Cold spell, dense fog likely on R-Day
The eastern part of Kolkata woke up to a hazy morning today. Photo: Debasish Bhaduri
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast dense fog over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on Saturday and Sunday (Republic Day) even as the mercury seeks lower levels. A fresh but weak western disturbance is expected to affect the hills of North-West India from Friday but may not drastically alter the weather.
This morning, dense to very dense fog was observed over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Rajasthan and East Uttar Pradesh. There was dense fog over parts of Bihar, Assam and Meghalaya and moderate fog over West Uttar Pradesh and Tripura.
The fog reduced visibility to below 25 metres in Delhi (Safdarjung), Patiala, Ambala, Hissar, Palam, Churu, Bikaner, Bahraich, Gorakhpur, and Patna; it was below 50 metres in Lucknow, Purnea, Tezpur and Silchar; and below metres in Bareilly, Sultanpur and Kailashahar.
Mangaluru warmest yesterday
On Tuesday, cold day conditions prevailed in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana while severe cold day conditions were observed in isolated parts over Uttar Pradesh. The maximum (day) temperature of 38. degrees Celsius was recorded in Mangaluru (Coastal Karnataka), while the lowest night temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at Churk (East Uttar Pradesh), over the plains of the country.
This morning, among the major metros, Delhi was the coldest, as expected, at 10 degrees Celsius at 9.30 am. Enveloped by fog, the city’s Indira Gandhi International Airport was a notch lower at 9 degrees; Chennai, at 25 degrees Celsius, was the warmest with the Chennai International Airport at 27 degrees Celsius.
Plenty of sunshine for Mumbai
The sky was blue over the Bandra-Worli sealink in Mumbai on Wednesday. Photo: Paul Noronha
Elsewhere, morning clouds held back the mercury to a low of 9 degrees Celsius at Jaipur; it was a hazy and sunny 24 degrees Celsius at Ahmedabad; there was plenty of sunshine for Mumbai at 25 degrees Celsius, while it was cloudy at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with the temperature at 27 degrees.
In the East, Kolkata was foggy at 19 degrees Celsius at 9.30 am while Kolkata International Airport was slightly cooler at 16 degrees Celsius.
As for the South, Hyderabad saw fair conditions at 24 degrees Celsius while it was foggy at 24 degrees Celsius at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Bengaluru saw foggy conditions at 21 degrees Celsius while the Kempegowda International Airport, too, reported fog at a lower 20 degrees Celsius at 9.30 am.
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