A sudden change has been seen in the weather of the country’s capital Delhi and surrounding areas. There is fog in the morning sky from UP to Punjab and Haryana. Meanwhile, the air quality also remains in the very poor category. The air quality index AQI in Delhi was 316 at 11 pm last night, which was recorded at 349 at around 7 am today. Along with Delhi, the air is very bad in Chandigarh, Sonipat and Amritsar also.
Visibility has also been recorded very low due to fog and smog. There was 100 meter visibility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 6 am, while zero visibility was recorded at Hindon Airport and Amritsar Airport in Punjab. Several environmental factors and seasonal activities may be responsible for the sudden change in weather and dense fog in North India.
What is the cause of haze?
According to the Meteorological Department, the reason for the sudden dense fog and mist in North India is the active western disturbance in the Himalayan region. Due to Western Disturbance, the wind direction has started moving from west to east, due to which the pollution accumulated over Pakistan and Punjab has moved towards Delhi. When smoke and dust come together, and the temperature drops, humidity collects around it and takes the form of mist or fog.
What is the difference between fog and smog?
This is called nucleation in scientific language, that is, water droplets condensing on the nucleus of dust and smoke and forming fog. Meanwhile, people are confused about whether it is fog or smog? Actually, fog and smog both are related to the mist in the sky, but there is a lot of difference between the two. Fog is formed by very fine drops of water floating in the air. But, smog is a mixture of smoke and pollution. Apart from this, the color of fog is white, whereas smog can be light gray or brown. Due to cold weather and increase in humidity, fog increases in the sky, while smog is formed due to increase in pollution after the temperature falls.
Winter will increase with cold winds coming from the mountains
After the first snowfall of the season in the mountains, now there is a possibility of increase in cold in the country’s capital Delhi. Actually, after the advance of Western Disturbance, the cold winds of the mountains will be able to reach Delhi. In such a situation, the temperature is likely to fall after November 18.
Talking about the weather forecast, there may be smog or fog in the sky in the evening today (Wednesday) just like in the morning. The maximum temperature will be 30 and the minimum temperature will be 17 degrees. Between 14 to 16 November, the maximum temperature can be 32 degrees and the minimum temperature can be 16 to 17 degrees. After this, a drop in day temperature may be recorded due to winds.
On November 17, the maximum temperature can be 31 degrees and the minimum temperature can be 16 degrees. On November 18, the maximum temperature can be 30 degrees and the minimum temperature can be 15 degrees Celsius. Smog and fog conditions will persist in the morning and evening from 14 to 18 November. After this, cold winds from the mountains will start reaching Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, which will reduce the temperature.
Actually, the arrival of cold weather in Delhi depends on a particular atmospheric condition. In this, north-western winds, also known as Western Disturbance, play a major role. This year, due to the slow speed of these winds, cold weather may arrive late. Western Disturbances cause rain and snowfall in the Himalayan region. It is due to their influence that a cold environment is created in North India. This time in November, the maximum and minimum temperatures are three to four degrees higher than normal.