Gurugram: Dense fog and cold weather conditions prevailed in the city on Tuesday morning, but the weather improved considerably in the afternoon.
The weather department said that cold wave conditions are likely to abate over northwest India in the upcoming days. The maximum and minimum temperatures rose by a few notches on Tuesday, bringing much-needed relief to Gurugram residents.
The air quality, however, remained in the ‘very poor’ category with an air quality index (AQI) of 348 recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The maximum temperature on Tuesday was recorded at 17.6 degrees Celsius and the minimum was recorded at 6.7 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature on Monday was 3.9 degrees Celsius, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.
“There will be shallow fog in many areas but cold wave conditions will abate for the next few days and the temperatures will also rise. The minimum and maximum temperature rose on Tuesday itself and there was sunshine for a longer period compared to the last few days,” said Manmohan Singh, director, IMD, Chandigarh.
Singh also said that due to western disturbances that are expected on Wednesday, both the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to rise by two to four degrees in the next three to four days. “Cold wave conditions are likely to return after January 14,” he added.
The IMD in Delhi said that due to the continuation of prevailing light wind and high moisture near the surface over the Indo-Gangetic plains, ‘dense’ to ‘very dense’ fog is likely to continue in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the next 24 hours, and abate gradually thereafter.
{{/usCountry}}The IMD in Delhi said that due to the continuation of prevailing light wind and high moisture near the surface over the Indo-Gangetic plains, ‘dense’ to ‘very dense’ fog is likely to continue in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the next 24 hours, and abate gradually thereafter.
{{/usCountry}}The IMD also said that due to fresh western disturbances, isolated light rainfall is also likely over parts of Punjab, Haryana and adjoining areas of western UP from January 11 to 13.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) in its daily forecast said that the air quality is likely to improve over the weekend, but it will be within the ‘severe’ or upper end of ‘very poor’ category for the next three days due to low temperature (helps accumulation of pollutants) and moderate surface wind (moderate dispersion of pollutants).