Expect dense fog in mornings, chilly nights till January 5: IMD

Ranchi: As picnic spots and tourist sites across Jharkhand get ready to welcome thousands over the New Year weekend, the Ranchi weather office on Friday urged motorists to maintain caution as it sounded dense fog alert across 11 districts.The fog cover, officials at the Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, is likely to be in place till Monday and affect road, rail and air traffic movement due to poor visibility.A yellow alert for dense fog was issued for Garhwa, Palamu, Chatra, Hazaribag, Koderma, Giridih, Deoghar, Dumka, Pakur, Godda and Sahibganj districts in the IMD’s evening weather bulletin. The weather office said fog cover would be the thickest in the morning hours and will pull down visibility to 200 metres or below in the next 72 hours.“Apart from the districts for which the alert has been issued, other parts of the state likely to experience shallow to moderate fog in the morning hours in the coming days. Along with that, minimum temperature is also likely to fall by 2-3 °C across the state from Sunday. Dry weather along with shallow to moderate fog prevailed across the state in the past 24 hours from January 1,” Abhishek Anand, scientist at IMD Ranchi, said.

The weather office on Friday issued advisory to the residents and urged motorists to remain cautious while driving in the morning hours. That apart, railway and transport officials were asked to remain alert. Farmers were cautioned as prolonged fog and low temperatures could impact standing crops.Meanwhile, minimum temperature saw a rise at various places in the past 24 hours. Ranchi recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4 °C on Friday, marking a rise 1.5 °C compared to that on Thursday.

Similarly, Jamshedpur recorded 11.6°C, an increase of 1.6 °C.Daltonganj witnessed 2°C increase in the minimum temperature recording 7.7 °C on Friday. Bokaro recorded 9.1 °C minimum temperature, 1.6 °C more than that of Thursday. Chaibasa recorded 10 °C, a 1.4 °C increase from Thursday. At 6.4 °C, Gumla recorded the coldest night in the state in the past 24 hours.The weather office said fog cover would be the thickest in the morning hours and will pull down visibility to 200 metres or below in the next 72 hours