Sunny Days, No Rain, But Dense Fog: IMD Launches Special Webpage for Ayodhya Weather Forecast

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a special webpage for people travelling to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony on January 22. The page features the latest weather forecast with four-hourly Nowcast warnings for Ayodhya, as well as a few nearby areas.

Northwest India remains under the grip of an intense cold wave with minimum temperatures hovering around 2-6℃ for the past few days. The mercury dipped to as low as 0.0℃ in Ballowal in Ludhiana, Punjab on Wednesday with dense fog worsening the situation, and leading to disruptions in transport services during early morning and late evening hours.

According to the weather department, similar conditions are likely to continue at least till January 21, after which the intensity of cold is expected to decrease. “Jet Stream winds of the order of 140-160 knots at 12.6 km above mean sea level are prevailing over the plains of North India. It is leading to subsidence of cold air and enhancing cold wave/cold day conditions over North India. Similar intensity of Jet Stream is likely to continue during next three to four days,” the IMD said.

The special weather forecast covers Ayodhya, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, New Delhi as well as other nearby areas like Bhiti, Bhanpur, Bikapur, Harraiya, Manakpur, Milkipur in Uttar Pradesh. The days are likely to be clear and sunny in Ayodhya over the next few days. However, dense fog will continue in the morning hours, as per the forecast.

While the maximum temperatures are likely to remain around 16-19℃, the night-time temperatures could plummet down to 6-9℃. However, no significant rain spells are expected over the next week at least, and the weather would remain dry.

The department has also recently unveiled an integrated GIS based interactive mobile app called Mausam which features “mausam-gram” that allows the people to access detailed weather forecasts for any chosen location with a click on the map or a search using place names, pin-codes, or coordinates. The forecast is available in nearly 12 Indian languages, and covers crucial weather parameters such as rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and cloud cover.

The webpage also includes detailed Nowcast warnings issued around 1pm valid for up to the next four hours.