Several places across Jharkhand, including Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Bokaro, woke up to a foggy Tuesday morning.
The dense fog reduced surface visibility to as low as 500 metres in Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas at around 6.15 am and to 1,000 metres in Ranchi and Bokaro.
Several other places in southern and central Jharkhand, including adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan, Chaibasa in West Singhbhum and Khunti, witnessed moderate fog, which reduced the surface visibility to below 1,000 metre after sunrise .
The fog disrupted visibility even on the National Highway-33 that connects Jamshedpur with Ranchi.
Weathermen confirmed that the blanket of shallow fog descended on several areas especially those located along the hilly terrain soon after sunrise. The haze cleared only after 9 am.
The visibility on NH-33 between Ranchi and Jamshedpur was reduced to less than 500 metres between 6.30 am and 8am, thereby slowing down the morning traffic.
Visibility of around 600 metre was also reported from several places of the Kolhan region, including Chaibasa, Manoharpur, Chandil and Ghatshila.
The shallow fog took a toll on long-distance buses that were either arriving or departing from Jamshedpur’s Sitaramdera Bus Terminus in Jamshedpur. Most of them were running late.
Streetlamps in Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) command areas were kept on in Mango (Jamshedpur) and several other places till around 9 am.
Head of Ranchi Meteorological Centre Abhishek Anand said , “We have issued an alert of moderate fog during the early morning of Jharkhand.”
He said, “The fog alert has been extended for the next 24 hours.”
Minimum readings witnessed a rise due to the shallow fog on Tuesday.
The highest maximum temperature 29.6°C was recorded at Godda while the lowest minimum temperature 13.9°C was recorded at Ramgarh.
Today's satellite pictures indicated a low pressure area over Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining the coupled with an associated cyclonic circulation extending upto 5.8 km above mean sea level.
This is likely to result in light to moderate rain at isolated places over south-west Jharkhand over the weekend.
