Cold day to severe cold day conditions are predicted to persist across several regions of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and north Rajasthan during the next two days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), news agency IANS reported. The weather forecast office further stated that dense to extremely dense fog is predicted to persist over various sections of the plains of Northwest and East India over the next three days before progressively diminishing.
Speaking with media, IMD's DG Dr Mrityunjay Mohapatra stated: "During 5-11th January, we are expecting night temperature to fall, it may lead to cold wave conditions in some parts of central India...day temperature will also be below normal leading to cold day conditions especially in Madhya Pradesh, northern parts of Maharashtra, southern parts of Uttar Pradesh."
The IMD also predicted that, due to the influence of a fresh easterly wave and Low Pressure Area over the West Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining Southeast Arabian Sea, light to moderate rainfall is expected at some places over south Tamil Nadu, south Kerala, and Lakshadweep over the next 3-4 days, with isolated heavy rainfall over Lakshadweep from Monday to Thursday, and south Tamil Nadu on Monday and Thursday.
According to the IMD's warning, dense to extremely dense fog conditions are very likely to dominate during the night and early hours in various parts of Punjab from Monday to Friday.
“Dense to very dense fog conditions are very likely to prevail during night & morning hours in some parts over Haryana and Chandigarh during Monday to Wednesday and in isolated pockets thereafter for subsequent two days,” it was quoted by IANS in its report.
The IMD also expected severe to extremely dense fog conditions in several portions of Uttarakhand from Tuesday to Saturday, east Rajasthan from Tuesday to Wednesday, and scattered pockets across western Rajasthan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Dense fog conditions are very likely to prevail in isolated pockets in early morning/morning hours over Himachal Pradesh till Saturday, over Uttar Pradesh till Thursday, over Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, over Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during Tuesday and Thursday and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Jharkhand on Tuesday and Wednesday," it stated.
Meanwhile, the weather in Uttar Pradesh has been dry in the previous 24 hours, with mild to severe fog in certain areas, according to the Met office on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, there will be moderate to intense fog (surface horizontal visibility of 50-499 metres).
The day temperature increased significantly in Varanasi, Lucknow, and Gorakhpur divisions in the previous 24 hours, but there was no noteworthy change in the remaining divisions, according to a Met office statement.
Daytime temperatures in Kanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, and Meerut divisions were far below normal, according to the report.
The night temperature in Varanasi dropped significantly, but there was no noticeable change in the other divisions, according to the statement.
The state also had chilly to very cold days in one or two locations. Shahjahanpur had the lowest temperature of 5.2 degrees Celsius, while Banda had the highest temperature of 22.8 degrees Celsius.