North India is reeling under a severe cold wave that has disrupted normal life and transport services. Dense fog has reduced the visibility to less than 50 metres in some areas of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a cold day warning for these states and a cold wave warning for some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a cold day warning on 31 December in Delhi, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, and a cold wave warning in some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. A cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 10°C below normal and the minimum temperature is below 4°C. A cold wave is when the minimum temperature is at least 10°C below normal.
According to the IMD, the cold will intensify further in these states from January 5, 2024. There will be no respite from the harsh cold till January 11, as the western disturbance, a low-pressure system that brings moisture and snowfall to the Himalayan region, will affect the weather over North India. The western disturbance will also bring rain and snowfall to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, which will further lower the temperatures in the plains.
North India woke up to dense fog on Saturday (December 30), which reduced the visibility to near zero in some places. The IMD said that dense fog conditions are likely to continue at many places till December 31 in Delhi, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura. The fog also affected the air quality, which remained in the 'very poor' category in most of these states.
The cold wave has forced people to stay indoors and use heaters and bonfires to keep warm. Many homeless people have taken shelter in night shelters and under flyovers. The authorities have advised people to avoid exposure to the cold and wear warm clothes. The cold wave has also impacted the crops, especially the wheat and mustard, which are at the flowering stage. The farmers have been advised to irrigate the crops at regular intervals and use frost protection measures.
The cold wave conditions in North India are expected to ease by the second week of January, as the wind direction changes and the minimum temperatures rise. However, the IMD has warned that another spell of cold wave may occur in the third week of January, due to another western disturbance.