As soon as the country woke up on the morning of 21 December, the sky presented a strange distribution of weather. In North India, the weather changed its colors in such a way that at some places the mountains became white with snow, while at other places the plains were seen wrapped in a blanket of dense fog. While the ‘poison’ of pollution remained in the air in the capital Delhi, Kashmir welcomed ‘Chillai Kalan’ with snowfall. This game of weather was not limited to just cold, it stopped flights, slowed down the speed of roads and forced people to hide in their homes. Why did this happen?
Delhi: Deadly cocktail of smog and pollution
Sunday morning brought a double blow to the capital Delhi. Dense fog on one side and poisonous air on the other. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 377, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category. The situation was so bad that the air at 16 out of 40 monitoring stations in the city was recorded in the ‘severe’ category. That means breathing has become difficult.
Fog havoc: Visibility dropped to 200 to 300 meters in Palam and Safdarjung areas. This had a direct impact on air traffic. A total of 97 flights were canceled and more than 200 flights were delayed on Sunday due to dense fog at Delhi airport.
Temperature improvement: After the severe cold of the last few days, the minimum temperature improved slightly on Sunday to 9.4 degrees Celsius, which is 1.3 degrees more than the season’s average. The weather department estimates that there will be moderate fog on Monday also.
Kashmir: Snowy start of ‘Chillai Kalan’
- 21st December was a special day in Wadi-e-Kashmir. From today, a period of 40 days of severe cold, which is called ‘Chillai-Kalan’ in the local language, has started. And nature started it with the gift of snowfall.
- Srinagar: The night temperature in the city was 4 degrees Celsius, which was the hottest night of this season. It was 6 degrees more than normal, due to which there were clouds in the sky.
- Gulmarg and Sonmarg: About two inches of snow fell in the famous tourist destination Gulmarg, while Sonmarg and Sadhna Top (Tangdhar sector) also received good snowfall. Gulmarg was the only place where the temperature was recorded below zero (-1.5 degrees).
- Sigh of relief: This snowfall and rain is a good news for Kashmir. The long-running dry spell has ended, due to which people are expected to get relief from diseases like cough and cold. Local people consider snowfall on the first day of ‘Chillai Kalan’ as an auspicious sign.
3. Punjab-Haryana: White wall of fog
Cold has started showing its true form in the plains. ‘Cold Day’ like conditions persisted in Punjab and Haryana. Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest where the mercury dropped to 5.2 degrees. Gurdaspur was the coldest place in Punjab with 6.8 degrees. The temperature in Chandigarh, the capital of both the states, was recorded at 8.8 degrees Celsius. Dense fog reduced visibility to near zero in the morning in both the states, causing vehicles to crawl on the roads.
4. Uttar Pradesh: Visibility less than 50 meters
In many parts of Uttar Pradesh, the fog was so dense that visibility was less than 50 meters. The Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of dense to very dense fog during night and morning hours till December 23 in eastern Uttar Pradesh. In some areas of the state, the situation ranges from ‘cold day’ to severe cold day.
5. Rajasthan: Western disturbance gave some relief
The weather has taken a turn in the desert state of Rajasthan. Due to the effect of a Western Disturbance, there has been a slight increase in the temperature, which gave some relief to the people from the harsh cold. The temperature in Fatehpur increased from 5.4 to 8.9 degrees and in Sikar it increased from 5.8 to 9 degrees. However, this relief is for a short time. The Meteorological Department says that from December 24, due to northern winds, the temperature will again drop by 2-3 degrees and fog will also return.
Due to late trains, huge crowd was seen at the stations in Patna.
Jharkhand: Orange alert of fog and cold
The oppression of cold continues in Jharkhand also. The Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert of dense fog for 5 districts like Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Chatra and Hazaribagh. The minimum temperature here has gone below 10 degrees. According to Ranchi Meteorological Center, no major change in temperature is expected for the next 72 hours, but after that the cold will increase further.
South India: Chill in Telangana and Karnataka also
The effect of cold is not limited to North India only. According to the Meteorological Department’s bulletin, ‘cold wave’ conditions have also been observed in parts of North Interior Karnataka and Telangana.
What does this ‘distribution’ of weather say?
This weather map of December 21 tells an interesting story. While the mountains are inviting tourists with a white blanket of snow, Delhi-NCR is wrapped in a black blanket of pollution. Punjab, Haryana and UP are hidden behind the ‘white wall’ of fog, while in Rajasthan the western disturbance has raised the mercury a bit. This ‘division’ is going to deepen further in the coming days. If ‘Chillai Kalan’ freezes in Kashmir for 40 days, then double attack of cold wave and fog will be seen in the plains. If you are planning to travel, then leave home only after checking the status of flights and trains, because the weather will continue to play its vagaries in the sky.
