Brace for dense fog during New Year’s eve, warns Met
The capital witnessed a relatively pleasant Wednesday, with visibility peaking to 3,000 metres and never dropping below 200 metres during the course of the day, IMD officials said.
Fog may play a spoiler to your New Year party plans as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast very dense fog from Thursday. The intensity of the fog expected to peak on New Year’s Eve, officials said.
The capital witnessed a relatively pleasant Wednesday, with visibility peaking to 3,000 metres and never dropping below 200 metres during the course of the day, IMD officials said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 25.1 and 7.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
But with the onset of weaker easterly winds, the situation is likely to change. The Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) has predicted “dense to very dense fog” for Thursday, with maximum and minimum temperatures expected to be 24 and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The easterly winds are expected to increase levels of humidity in the region, which under cold temperatures can spell fog, said a scientist at the RWFC.
Read: After Christmas chill, temperature in Delhi to drop further, says weatherman
Visibility may even drop to as low as 50m in some places on Thursday possibly disrupting flight and train operations. These weather conditions are expected to last until after the New Year’s Day, and are expected to spike on New Year’s eve, RWFC officials said.
These winds can also prove hazardous, as they are usually weaker than the westerly winds and can help accumulate particulate matter.
Air Quality may be expected to plummet with the accumulation of particulate matter.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality index (AQI) in the city will be at a very poor level.
The PM 2.5 AQI is expected to be 321 on Thursday, a notch above Wednesday’s average of 304.
