Based on information from the Meteorological Department, most of Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi saw extreme cold wave conditions on Tuesday due to dense to very dense fog that covered these regions. Punjab, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi were also affected. The fog classification used by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) states that visibility between 0 and 50 meters is considered "very dense," 51 to 200 meters is considered "dense," 201 to 500 meters is considered "moderate," and 501 to 1,000 meters is considered "shallow."
The fog is expected to thicken and spread over the remaining areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, and some additional sections of north Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh during the night, according to the IMD's Tuesday night report. Many regions of Punjab, East Madhya Pradesh, northwest Rajasthan, and West Uttar Pradesh experienced cold wave to severe cold wave conditions.
In many parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Karnataka, Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan, and Muzaffarabad, temperature readings were below normal (-1.6 to -3 degrees Celsius), while near-normal temperatures were noted in other parts of the nation.
The Meteorological Department predicts that for the next four to five days, minimum temperatures in Northwest India are projected to gradually rise by two to three degrees Celsius. Over the same period, a rise in minimum temperatures of 3–4 degrees Celsius is predicted over East India. A few pockets over Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana are expected to experience cold day conditions. The IMD forecast that dense to extremely dense fog is probable in a few locations over Punjab, Haryana. Chandigarh-Delhi, with isolated locations in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and Sikkim on January 17, with intense fog in a few places over Bihar.
On January 18, cold wave conditions are predicted in a few isolated areas across Rajasthan, while dense fog is probable in a few pockets throughout Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
