LAHORE: Mist hung in and around Lahore in the early morning hours of Friday, with the Met Office saying more was expected as the days grew colder in December.

“As humidity decreases and the weather gets colder, more of this mist called fog is expected and we can often see it early in the morning,” a Met Office spokesperson told Dawn.

“The fog will increase except when rainfall occurs, or a northwesterly wind blows. Fog usually occurs when visibility is less than 1km; on Friday morning at Lahore airport it was around 100 metres.”

In the coming days there is no rainfall expected across the province of Punjab.

Thick fog causes an accident on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway in which 15 vehicles collide, leaving over a dozen people injured

Data on fog on the Motorways is being uploaded every three hours by the Met department and the last recorded data showed that there would be no fog on any of the motorways on M1, M2 except Pindi-Bhattian where there would be shallow fog from 2am to 5am, and from 5am to 8am it would increase to moderate. On the M5, (Multan-Sukkur) only shallow fog was expected.

It was cold and dry in most parts of the country on Friday as it has been during the last 24 hours.

On Saturday, the weather will remain cold and dry in most parts of the country.

In Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, besides cloudy weather, light rain and light snow is expected in the mountains.

The minimum temperatures recorded on Friday were minus 7 (degree centigrade) in Laha and Parachinar, minus 2 in Skardu and minus 1 in Kalam.

SMOG: However apart from the fog, there is still particulate matter in the air along with other gases in the air which continue to cause the same levels of smog. With the air growing cooler this too may worsen during the month.

On Friday evening, the recording at the US Consulate Lahore was a dismal 427 (hazardous), with 390 µg/m3 (Micrograms per Cubic Meter of Air). In most areas of Lahore, devices showed hazardous readings of air quality including FC College (444), LUMS (405), Askari (357), Upper Mall (331), Gulberg (316) and Askari Heights (280).

City wise ranking showed Bahawalpur recorded 409 with PM2.5 a startling 406 µg/m3, Lahore 344, followed by Raiwind 220, Rawalpindi 272, and Muridke 253.

Fog was so thick on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway that 15 vehicles collided near the Ravi Toll Plaza early Friday, leaving over a dozen people injured.

A motorway police official said two buses and cars were involved in the chain collision.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2020