Northern India: Welcome rain may briefly break foggy pattern later this week
Welcome rain will return to northern India later this week, sweeping away the persistent fog and haze, but only for a brief time.
A storm set to track out of the Middle East could remain potent enough that when it reaches northern India, it will deliver rain and finally cut into the stagnant weather pattern.
Dense morning fog, hazy sunshine and poor air quality will continue across northern India until the storm arrives.
The storm should press eastward across northern India from Wednesday into Friday, after tracking through Pakistan earlier in the week.
Rain and a couple of thunderstorms would accompany the storm over New Delhi, Jaipur and Lucknow. Heavy rain along the base of the Himalayan mountains will threaten flooding across extreme northwestern India, including areas from southern Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab and southern Uttarakhand.
Snow will bury the neighboring mountains and create treacherous travel. Avalanches could close some roads in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Isolated villages could become cut-off for several days.
How strong the storm stays will determine how much rain will spread to eastern India toward next weekend.
Any rain this time of year is welcome across northern India. New Delhi averages close to 20 mm (0.78 of an inch) of rain each January, compared to the nearly 250 mm (10 inches) that is typical in August.
As the storm sweeps in, the fog and haze currently shrouding northern India could be swept out. However, AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Douty stated that such clearing will be brief.
“The fog and haze could clear for a day or two, but the increase in moisture from the rain might just cause more fog to develop quickly after the storm departs,” he said.
Next weekend, dense fog could once again create dangerously low visibility and travel hazards in New Delhi and Lucknow.
“Something else to watch out for will be colder air immediately after the storm,” Douty said.
Nighttime temperatures could drop back into the upper and middle single digits C (40s F), creating dangers for those without sufficient heating.
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