Year-end chill persists as IMD issues fog and cold wave alerts across India

IMD has flagged dense to very dense fog, cold wave conditions, and snowfall across several regions till early January, warning of continued disruption to travel and daily life ahead of the New Year

As the year draws to a close, winter conditions across India are set to continue disrupting daily life, with cold waves and dense fog persisting across several regions. With New Year’s Eve approaching, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued multiple weather alerts, warning of dense to very dense fog, cold wave conditions, cold days, and snowfall in parts of the country.

 

Dense fog, cold wave, and cold day warnings

 

The IMD has warned that cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, north Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh during December 28–30, and over Jharkhand on December 28. Uttar Pradesh is expected to witness dense to very dense fog in some to many parts till December 31, followed by dense fog in isolated pockets over the subsequent two days. Dense fog is also likely over Himachal Pradesh on December 31 and January 1.

 

 

Dense fog conditions are expected in isolated pockets over east Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh till December 29, and over the Jammu division till December 30. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal is likely to witness dense fog till December 31, while Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura, and Odisha may experience similar conditions till January 1.

 

Rainfall and snowfall forecast

 

The weather bulletin also predicts scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall or snowfall over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad during December 30 to January 2. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are likely to see isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall or snowfall during the same period.

 

Meanwhile, isolated thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty winds of 30–40 km per hour are likely over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during December 27–31.

 

Delhi weather forecast

 

For the next few days, the IMD has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Delhi, with shallow to moderate fog during morning hours, as fog and cold wave conditions continue to disrupt daily life.

 

The maximum temperature in the national capital is expected to remain around 22–23 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature is likely to hover between 8 and 9 degrees Celsius. Shallow fog is likely at many places, with moderate fog at isolated locations during morning hours.

 

Minimum temperature outlook

 

The IMD said there is no significant change in minimum temperatures over northwest India for the next two days, followed by a gradual rise of 2–4 degrees Celsius over the subsequent three days, and a fall of about 2 degrees Celsius thereafter.

 

Over central and east India, minimum temperatures are likely to remain largely unchanged for the next three to four days, before rising gradually by 2–3 degrees Celsius over the following three days.

 

No significant change in minimum temperatures is expected over the remaining parts of the country during the next seven days, the IMD added.