Dense to very dense fog has begun to disrupt normal life in plains of North and East India. The Palam Airport Observatory inDelhiobserved very dense fog with nil visibility on Saturday between 6:30 am and 8:30 am.
According to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, this was the season’s first widespread fog in Delhi that covered almost all places of the national capital.
Lucknowalso witnessed very dense fog with the visibility dropping to 50 meters. While other cities witnessed shallow fog such asGaya500 meters,Patna600 meters and Guwahati 500 meters.
As a result, several flights and trains have been delayed causing inconvenience to hundreds of travellers.
Fog in India is not widespread at the moment and is only confined to some areas. However, in next 24 to 48 hours it is expected to become widespread and cover more parts.
As per Skymet, visibility is expected to drop significantly by tomorrow inChandigarh,Amritsar, Patiala, Agra and Gwalior as minimum temperatures will start dropping now onwards.
Fog is a common weather phenomena in Indo-Gangetic Plains during December and January. One of the main reason behind this are the Western Disturbances that affects Western Himalayas during winters.
As the Western Disturbance approaches, the wind pattern changes from dry and cold northerly or northwesterlies to relatively warm and humid easterlies or southeasterlies. Now as the system moves away, sky become clear and outgoing longwave radiation cools the earth surface rapidly. This results in condensation of moist winds near surface of earth, resulting in fog.
Generally fog disappears as the sun comes out but sometimes it persists for longer duration due to in absence of strong winds.
Image credit: www.thehindu.com
