Ethiopian volcanic eruption: How long will the ash cloud linger over India; where is it heading next? | India News
NEW DELHI: Ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia will clear Indian skies by 7.30 pm on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The plume has been drifting across parts of northwest India since Monday and briefly affected flight operations.
Where is it heading?
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the ash clouds are now “drifting towards China” and will move away from India by Tuesday evening.The plume entered Gujarat on Monday before spreading across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Haryana and Punjab through the night.
How did the ash cloud travel?
Hayli Gubbi, a shield volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, erupted on Sunday after nearly 10,000 years of dormancy, sending ash up to 14 km (45,000 ft) into the atmosphere.According to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC), the explosive activity began around 8:30 am GMT on Sunday, with “a large ash plume moving toward northern India” even after the eruption stopped.Thick columns of ash rose from the Afar region, about 800 km northeast of Addis Ababa near the Eritrean border, and were carried by high-level winds across the Red Sea towards Yemen and Oman, before drifting over the Arabian Sea into western and northern India.The IMD said the ash was transported by strong upper-level winds that carried the plume “from Ethiopia across the Red Sea to Yemen and Oman and further over the Arabian Sea towards western and northern India.” Satellite imagery, ash advisories from VAACs and dispersion models were used to track the plume’s movement.
Which Indian cities saw an impact?
Forecast models showed ash influence over Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. The plume passed over these regions on Monday night, reducing visibility in several pockets as it moved eastward.A layer of haze also hung over Delhi, where the air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category amid concerns over the drifting ash cloud.IMD’s Met Watch Offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata issued ICAO-standard SIGMET warnings to airports, advising them to avoid the affected airspace and flight levels marked in VAAC bulletins. The IMD said continuous monitoring of ash movement is being used for flight planning, including adjustments in routing and fuel requirements as needed. Flights over the region may face rerouting, longer travel times or holding patterns, it added.
