R-Day sees season’s 2nd-worst fog spell, 12 airports hit

A blanket of ‘very dense’ fog, stretching from as far as East Pakistan to north Bengal, was recorded on the morning of Republic Day, making it the second such episode of severe fog this winter.

Unlike the earlier one on Christmas, the current fog episode is less severe, officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The “very dense” fog covered covered Punjab, Haryana, parts of north Rajasthan, much of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and visibility at 12 out of 15 airports in the region dropped below 50m in the morning hours, IMD officials added.

The expansive fog layer started developing on the night of January 24 and satellite images showed grew in scale steadily, stretching from Pakistan to the Indo-Gangetic plains in the west. “Following rains in northwestern parts of the country, there was fresh accumulation of moisture. This triggered the expansive fog cover that reduced visibility in many parts of the Northern India and plains,” said RK Jenamani, Head, IMD, Delhi Airport.

The severe fog conditions though, are not going to last for many days. A fresh western disturbance, that will bring another spell of rains to the Western Himalayan region and icy winds to northern India, will reduce the fog cover. The fresh bout of rains and cold winds is also going to result in a cold wave across North India, parts of northwest and plains that will last till the last week of January. “Minimum temperatures are very likely to be between five to 10 degrees Celsius over the northern parts of the country outside Western Himalayan region,” the IMD said in its forecast for the next two weeks.

VISIBILITY LOW

• The “very dense” fog covered covered Punjab, Haryana, parts of north Rajasthan, much of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
   
• visibility at 12 out of 15 airports in the region dropped below 50m in the morning hours.
   
• A fresh western disturbance will reduce fog cover in a few days