Fog-free holidays on the cards

NEW DELHI: Holiday travel this year is not likely to be affected by the weather. The chances of widespread dense fog are quite slim till December 25 at least because of which air and rail travel will continue without disruption. Due to a strong wind on Thursday , Delhi also saw a drop in maximum temperatures which intensified the late evening and early morning chill.

“The spell of dense fog that normally starts developing across the Indo-Gangetic plains by mid-December may not start till Christmas. Hence, major disruption of train and flight schedules due to fog is unlikely,” said Dr R K Jenamani , director in-charge , IGI Met.

The next two weeks may witness a spell of shallow fog but winter rainfall, which usually starts by this time, is not expected till the first week of January. “By mid-December , there is dense fog, covering a large part of the Indo-Gangetic region. This year, the delay in winter and fog has mainly been due to the unusual formation of three consecutive severe cyclones over the Bay of Bengal. Because of the cyclones , western disturbances (WD) did not affect the northwestern plains and strong westerly winds started blowing across the plain,” he added.

The wind, which intensified on Thursday in the aftermath of the last cyclone, has led to a clear sky over Delhi. On Thursday morning, no fog or smog was reported at airports in the region as westerly winds blew over the plains at a speed of 25-35 kmph.

Last year, fog began in Bihar by December 12, and engulfed the entire plain by December 23. Since 1997—from when the IGI Met began maintaining records—the only other year in which fog was delayed so much was 2007. That season, the first spell of fog started on January 5, 2008 and the winter was classified as weak. In 2009 too, fog descended on the city in January but the weeks before that saw very poor visibility due to smog.

“Various forecasting models show that no more cyclones will form now, but winter may not be able to recover immediately . One WD is expected between December 17 and 18 which will be restricted only to parts of Kashmir. Calm winds are expected over northwest India between December 15 and 17 but that may result only in shallow fog. Wind is expected to pick up again from December 19.