IMD issues dense fog, cold wave alerts for these states till December 24

IMD weather updates: Dense to very dense fog is likely to continue in several states including Delhi during the next two days while cold wave conditions are expected over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and north Rajasthan during the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. 

The weather forecasting agency has issued a red alert for today and tomorrow for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Western UP for low visibility due to dense fog. For Thursday and Friday, an orange alert has been issued for these states.

In Punjab, a dense fog alert has been issued for Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Patiala while an orange alert has been given for Barnala and Fatehgarh Sahib.   

During the past 24 hours, minimum temperatures were in the range of 3-5 degrees Celsius in parts of Punjab and Haryana, and in the range of 6-9 degrees Celsius in the rest of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, north Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh.

Cold waves and dense fog conditions were observed in most parts of Punjab, Himachal, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

Today, the weather department said that due to moisture and light winds at lower tropospheric levels over Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to very dense fog is likely in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days. The states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim are also expected to witness dense fog during the next five days.  

Cold wave conditions are likely to hit Himachal, Punjab, and north Rajasthan during the next five days with isolated severe cold wave conditions in  Punjab from 22 to 25 December.

The IMD has also said a low-pressure area lay over central parts of the South Bay of Bengal and adjoining East Equatorial Indian Ocean. It is likely to move west-northwestwards slowly towards the Sri Lanka coast during the next 2 days.