The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Wednesday that the duration and intensity of the fog have decreased significantly in northern India.

In an official statement, IMD said: “As predicted, fog duration, intensity and overcast areas have reduced significantly throughout northern India including over NCR Delhi this morning.”

It said airports in the country’s capital Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh saw shallow fog, while Pathankot, Jammu and Amritsar will continue to experience thick fog today.

Dense fog enveloped Amritsar as a cold wave swept through the city. The IMD had forecast a minimum temperature of 6 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 15 degrees Celsius in Amristar this morning with fog or haze, followed by a partly cloudy sky later.

Thick fog and cold waves continued to sweep over the state capital, with the city recording a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cold day conditions are likely to ease over north-west India from Wednesday and then pick up again from December 31.

According to IMD chief scientist RK Jenamani, from December 31 to January 1, 2023, fresh cold waves will again prevail.

“In the belt, dense to very dense fog will continue to prevail. There will be an improvement on December 29th due to a western disturbance that will bring new snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Leh and Himachal Pradesh. There will be drizzle in northern Punjab December 29,” he added.

There will be a significant improvement from Dec. 28 as the cold spell drains due to western disturbances, Jenamani said. In Delhi, the lowest temperature of 4.0 degrees Celsius was recorded in Aya Nagar and there is still a cold spell in isolated places.

Amid a cold spell prevailing in parts of northern India, Delhi’s Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, while Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

The IMD has forecast that the minimum temperature in the state capital will be around 7 degrees Celsius throughout the day.

The national capital reeled under a cold snap and foggy conditions, disrupting normal life. A dense layer of fog was observed in the region of the state capital, reducing visibility and the speed of vehicles throughout the region.

Visibility at Palam was recorded at 500 meters.

Visibility remained low in Punjab, with Amritsar recording visibility of up to 25 meters and Patiala 200. While Bhatinda once again recorded zero visibility.

Haryana also recorded low visibility. While Ambala recorded a low of 200, visibility in Chandigarh was also 200 meters.

Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly recorded 25m and Bahraich recorded 200m. Bihar’s Purnea and Odishas Gopalpur each recorded a low of 50m.

Earlier Tuesday, IMD predicted that “dense to very dense fog is very likely to persist over many parts of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.”

“Due to the prevailing light winds and high humidity in the lower tropospheric levels, dense to very dense fog is very likely to settle over many parts of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and in isolated pockets over northern Rajasthan over the next 24 hours keep. Its intensity and prevalence will likely decrease thereafter,” the IMD said on Tuesday.

According to IMD, dense fog is very likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, as well as Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura for the next three days.

Meanwhile, cold day and severe cold day is mainly over southern Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Daytime temperatures improved over northern Punjab, northern Haryana and northern Rajasthan. Cold to severe cold waves continue across Punjab, Haryana, northern Rajasthan and Delhi, RK Jenamani said.

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