BHUBANESWAR: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said foggy conditions will continue to prevail in Odisha till January 25.
On the day, dense fog engulfed parts of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Khurda and Puri as well as isolated places in Angul and crippled normal life in these districts. “Such conditions will prevail in many parts of the State on January 23 and 24. Moderate to dense fog will occur in several places on January 25,” said Met Director HR Biswas.

The districts to be affected by foggy conditions are Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Angul and Kandhamal. However, the intensity of fog will gradually reduce from January 25.
The IMD Director said low temperature, humidity, clear sky and light winds are creating a favourable condition for fog to occur in the State. “Stable weather condition and the existing atmospheric inversion layer is the main cause of fog in the Capital City and other places,” he said. 

Foggy conditions are witnessed in State between December 15 and February 15 every year. However, the conditions vary every year and depend on the effects of winter in the eastern region. “In some seasons, fog is more and in others, it is less,” Biswas said.

This year, the winter effect is more compared to other years. There is also a possibility of another spell of fog for two-three days before February 15, the weatherman informed.
The Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) at SOA University here also said dense fog will continue for three more days due to the approach of western disturbance from west to east and anti-cyclonic flow as well as the clockwise turning of wind along Odisha coast.

The dense fog may reduce visibility to less than 200 metre in Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Cuttack and Khurda, the CEC bulletin stated. It further said the western disturbance may also cause light to moderate rainfall in interior districts from January 25 night till 28.
Though minimum temperature rose appreciably rise in south coastal Odisha on the day, no major change in the weather condition was reported in the rest parts of the State. A lowest temperature of 8 degree C was recorded at Phulbani on Tuesday.