NE Shivers As Temperatures Dip 5-6°C Below Normal, Dense Fog Blankets City

Guwahati: Shivering cold has gripped the northeast in the last week of Dec, with temperatures dipping 5°C to 6°C below normal in many places across the region on Monday.From state capitals to smaller towns and villages, minimum temperatures dropped sharply, ranging between 5°C and 20°C across several northeastern states.Agartala recorded the steepest departure from normal daytime temperature, with a maximum of 17.8°C, which was a departure of 7.3°C below normal. Tezpur registered 17.9°C (6.3°C below normal), while Guwahati recorded 18.5°C (6°C below normal). In western Assam, Dhubri reported a maximum of 16.9°C, which was 5°C below normal on Monday.Dense fog blanketed Guwahati throughout Monday, leaving the city without sunlight. Residents felt the chill as mercury went drastically below the normal range in the city. Denizens lit small fires to keep warm as temperatures continued to plunge. “It’s shivering cold and very difficult to go to office. We couldn’t arrange picnics due to the foggy weather. Hopefully, the first week of the New Year will be sunny,” said Rashmi Saikia of Khanapara.According to the IMD, dense fog with visibility between 50 and 199 metres was reported in isolated pockets of Assam and Meghalaya during the past 24 hours, ending at 8:30 am Monday. The IMD’s regional meteorological centre (RMC) issued a warning that dense fog is very likely in isolated pockets of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura on Tuesday.For Tuesday, the Met office predicted light rain was very likely to occur in isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. “Light snowfall is very likely to occur in the higher reaches of Arunachal Pradesh. Dry weather is likely to prevail over Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura,” the RMC stated in its weather forecast.