Weather Update: Cold wave grips north India; dense fog alert in Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab; full forecast here
Weather Update: Cold wave grips north India; dense fog alert in Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab; full forecast here
The cold wave conditions have intensified in northern and northwestern part of the country. Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Punjab have witnessed dense fog with wind chills today.
The maximum temperatures in several parts of northern and northwestern part of the country were recorded below 20 degrees Celsius, said the Indian Metrological Department (IMD).
The Weather Department has predicted dense to very dense fog over parts of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Rajasthan during the next 48 hours. The dense fog is likely to continue over East Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh during the next 24 hours.
Rajasthan’s Churu became the coldest place in the state with 0.00 degree Celsius.
Meanwhile in the desert state’s hill station Mount Abu, the mercury has plunged to freezing point and a thin layer of ice was formed on the surface of cars, sheds and grounds.
Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are likely to prevail in isolated places of Rajasthan and Haryana, said the IMD. It also forecasted severe cold wave conditions in north Rajasthan for the next three days.
According to the India Meteorological Department, visibility across most of the northern states remained poor, with Bhatinda in Punjab and Bikaner in Rajasthan recording "zero visibility".
The visibility in the national capital was at 50 meters. Not only in Bhatinda, but visibility also remained low throughout Punjab, with Amritsar recording visibility of 25 metres. Haryana too recorded low visibility. While places like Ambala and Hissar recorded a low of 25m and 50m respectively, visibility in Chandigarh was 200 metres.
According to IMD data, places like Sri Ganganagar and Churu in Rajasthan also recorded low visibility of 25 and 50 meters, respectively. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal recorded low visibility on the day with 50 metres visibility at some places in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. In contrast, North Bengal recorded visibility of 200 meters.