Chennai wakes up to thick smog on Bhogi day; visibility drops to 400 m at Meenambakkam
The Hindu
A dense layer of smog covered various parts of Chennai on the morning of Bhogi on Monday (January 13, 2025). The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, noted that visibility dropped to 400 metres around Meenambakkam early on Monday.
A dense layer of smog covered various parts of Chennai on the morning of Bhogi on Monday (January 13, 2025). The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, noted that visibility dropped to 400 metres around Meenambakkam early on Monday.
Officials of the Aerodrome Meteorological Office, Meenambakkam, said the visibility steadily dipped from 5.30 a.m. and was as low as 400 metres around 7 a.m. It improved to 1,500 metres by 8.30 a.m. The observatory reported smog conditions and more moisture in the atmosphere.
V.R. Durai, director in-charge, Aerodrome Meteorological Office, said calm wind with low wind speed less than 5 kmph led to Bhogi smoke suspension in the air, and visibility was at the lowest for about an hour. Light rains and the picking up of wind speed to 10 kmph improved the visibility to 2,000 metres around 9.30 a.m.
“Light rainfall and strong wind speed helped the smog to disperse quicker and improved visibility condition. Last year, visibility level was worse at 50 metre between 6.30 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. on Bhogi day,” he said.
The airport runway needs a clear visibility level of 550 metres for flight operations. However, Monday’s flight schedule was not affected as some airlines had rescheduled flights,” Mr. Durai added.
During the past 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday, Oothu in Tirunelveli district recorded 5 cm, the day’s highest quantity of rainfall in the State. Besides Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam and Kancheepuram, various places in and around Chennai, including Nungambakkam, Tondiarpet, Aminjikarai, Villivakkam, and Vadapalani, experienced light rainfall up to 3 cm.
The RMC has predicted the wet spell to last till January 18 and a possibility of heavy rainfall in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari districts on January 15. The cyclonic circulation over east Sri Lanka coast and southwest Bay of Bengal would influence this week’s rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
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