The weather conditions favourable for dense to very dense fog would remain intact to keep the fog cover over Indo-Gangetic and northwest plains during the next couple of days. Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, entire Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal would witness very dense fog at some places. The heavy cold moist winds would keep the visibility level very low, affecting transport adversely. Things would be worse during early morning hours
Visibility in Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna and Kolkata would remain very poor and could even dip below 50m during late light till early morning. Especially Lucknow and Patna would be under very dense cover during this period as humidity levels would be almost 100% with a winds speed of around 3kmph.
An eastward moving Western Disturbance over Afghanistan and north Pakistan could bring some respite from the cold wave from December 26 onwards over these parts. Minimum temperatures may rise by 2 to 3 degrees after the next two days. But till then, cold waves along with fog could increase the discomfort for the people.
This weather system would again start a brief period of snowfall and rain over Jammu & Kashmir after the next 36 hours. One or two places could receive snowfall during this period. Snowfall and rain can spread to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand after the next 48 hours.
The southern part of the country is expected to experience easterly waves by December 26 onwards. These waves are in far southeastern Bay of Bengal and would reach over south coastal Tamil Nadu and south Kerala. These regions would continue to receive rain at one or two places during the next 24 hours.
Photograph by Anurag Agnihotri