Bonai witnesses season's first fog; check IMD’s forecast for winter in Odisha

After a brief delay, the residents of Bonai in Sundargarh district on Wednesday witnessed the winter season’s first spell of dense fog. A white blanket of fog enveloped the entire area with visibility dropping to less than 10 metres.

It was also for the first time that the residents experienced the winter chill this year. The drop in visibility created inconvenience for commuters and also affected movement of vehicular traffic on major roads.

It is pertinent to mention here that winter usually sets in after Durga Puja in Sundargarh. As per India Meteorological Department (IMD), the impact of winter will be less in Odisha as there is possibility of rainfall activities till December this year. Two low pressure systems had formed in October.

The IMD’s extended weather outlook states that the La Niña conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific region. The latest Monsoon Mission Climate Forecasting System (MMCFS) forecast indicates that the La Niña conditions are likely to continue up to the first quarter of next year. Other climate models are also indicating continuation of La Niña conditions until December to February (DJF) 2023 season and turn to neutral ENSO conditions thereafter.

“The negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are prevailing over the Indian Ocean since June 2022. The latest MMCFS forecast indicates that the negative IOD conditions are likely to weaken and turn to neutral IOD conditions by the end of this year,” said IMD.

Usually, winter chill is witnessed in Odisha between December and January. It is expected that the minimum temperature will fall gradually around January next year. There will be no significant change in weather conditions in Odisha in the next four days and the temperature is likely to drop subsequently, said IMD.

ଆଗାମୀ ୪ ରୁ ୫ ଦିନ ଯାଏଁ ରାଜ୍ୟରେ ପାଗ ମୁଖ୍ୟତଃ ଶୁଖିଲା ରହିବା ସହ ଉଭୟ ଦିନ ଏବଂ ରାତ୍ରି ତାପମାତ୍ରାରେ ବିଶେଷ ପରିବର୍ତ୍ତନର ସମ୍ଭାବନା ନାହିଁ

— Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar (@mcbbsr) October 25, 2022

 

(Reported by Ranjit Choudhry and Soumya Ranjan Sahu)