PUNE: Citizens across Pune district woke up to a heavy fog on Sunday morning which slowed down vehicular movement on the highways due to poor visibility.
Early morning walkers on the hills and grounds in Pune city said they had not seen such a fog and for so many days in the city for years. Some recalled a similar foggy situation in January in the early 1990s when the temperature had dipped close to zero in the city.
Commuters on the roads in the city and on the highway had to drive at very slow speed with headlights on as visibility was hampered beyond 200 to 300 metres. The condition improved by 11am, but the weather bureau officials said a similar foggy condition is likely to prevail during the early hours for the next two days. High humidity and clear skies without windy conditions are making the conditions conducive for formation of fog, they said.
The IMD’s Shivajinagar observatory recorded night temperature at 15.6 degree celsius on Sunday, a slide of four degrees at leats compared to the 19.7 degree celsius recorded on Saturday. Similarly, the Lohegaon observatory recorded 17.1 degree C, which was down from 19.4 degree C recorded on Saturday.
Cold and, at times, windy conditions prevailed till Sunday afternoon with the drop in the night temperatures.
A senior IMD official said, “Night temperature in the city is likely to drop further in the days ahead due to the penetration of the cold northerly winds. From Monday onwards till December 11, the weather is likely to remain partly cloudy in the afternoon hours. It will be clear sky conditions after that. Chances of the rainfall is very less. The night temperature from December 12 onward is likely to drop below the normal range.”
On Sunday, the Shivajinagar observatory the city’s day temperature at 28.8 degree C, which was 0.9 degrees below normal while the Lohegaon observatory recorded 29 degree C, which was 1 degree below normal.
Flights on Sunday were delayed too. Passengers said the airlines were not providing proper information and many said they would miss connecting flights.
“I had booked a flight to Patna via Delhi. The flight from Pune to Delhi has been rescheduled four times already. With no proper information, I will miss my onward connection. I had to reach Patna urgently today,” a flyer said.
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