New Delhi :
The mercury took a dip across north India on Thursday, a day after rains lashed the region, and fog led to reduced visibility at many places, including in Rajasthan’s Churu, where eight people died when a van collided with a bus.
Pahalgam was the coldest in the Kashmir Valley at minus 13.7 degrees Celsius and Mt. Abu recorded the lowest in Rajasthan at minus 2.4 degrees Celsius. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh registered a minimum of minus 14.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the state.
Similarly, Amritsar was the coldest in Punjab at 2.2 degrees Celsius and Hisar, at 3.2 degrees Celsius, registered the lowest temperature in Haryana.
In Delhi, the minimum temperature dropped on Thursday and is expected to dip further over the weekend due to icy winds coming in from the hills, weather experts said. The city recorded a minimum of 8.4 degrees Celsius, while the maximum settled at 15 degrees Celsius.
“The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to fall by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius over the plains of northwest India in the next 48 hours,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 10.8 mm rainfall overnight, the Palam weather station 10 mm and Lodhi Road 10.9 mm, it said.
Another spell of rains is expected in Delhi-NCR around January 13-14 due to a fresh western disturbance, weather experts said.
Most of the middle and high hills of Himachal Pradesh, including tourist destinations Shimla, Kufri and Manali, witnessed sub-zero temperatures. The Meteorological Centre in Shimla forecast rain and snowfall in the region from January 11 to 15, however it issued a ‘yellow’ warning for Monday only.
Maximum temperatures across the state were 8 to 9 degrees below the normal.
As many as 935 snow-bound roads in the state, including five national highways and one state highway, remain blocked. Train service between Shimla and Kalka was normal. A separate charter train was run on the Shimla-Solan route during the day.
Bus service from the Inter State Bus Terminus in Shimla to Chandigarh, Delhi and other parts resumed on Thursday morning.
The minimum temperature in Kinnaur’s Kalpa was minus 9.1 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali at minus 7.8, Dalhousie at minus 5.6, Kufri at minus 5.2 and Shimla at minus 3.7 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in both Solan and Palampur of Kangra district was recorded at minus 0.8 degrees Celsius.
Power and water supply have been adversely affected in many areas of Himachal Pradesh.
Cold wave conditions persisted in the Kashmir valley, where the night temperature in Pahalgam and Gulmarg resorts plummeted to minus 13 degrees Celsius. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius.
North Kashmir’s Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 13.6 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, registered a minimum of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag town, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, while north Kashmir’s Kupwara registered 6.1 degree Celsius.
The cold wave gripped parts of Rajasthan as well, with minimum temperatures of 5 degrees Celsius or less observed in most areas.
Dense fog cover was seen in Churu, Sikar and Sriganganagar districts, affecting the movement of traffic.
Pilani and Sikar recorded minimum temperatures of 2.5 degrees Celsius each, followed by 2.6 in Churu, 3.8 in Sriganganagar, 4.1 in Banasthali, 5.3 in Bhilwara, 6.0 in Jaipur and 7.2 degrees Celsius in Alwar.
People in state capital Jaipur had some respite as the sun shone brightly.
Minimum temperatures dropped a few notches in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, possibly due to the rainfall of the last three days.
Bathinda recorded a low of 2.8 degrees Celsius, two degrees below the normal, while the temperatures in Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara, Faridkot and Gurdaspur were recorded at 6, 3.9, 4.8, 3.6 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
It was 6.8 degrees Celsius in both Ludhiana and Patiala.
In Haryana, Ambala, Karnal, Narnaul, Rohtak and Sirsa saw minimum temperatures settle at 6.8, 7.4, 5, 6 and 4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Union territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum of 6.7 degrees Celsius.
A thick blanket of fog enveloped Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda, Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak and Sirsa.
It was a sunny Thursday in Uttarakhand after a four-day spell of heavy snowfall and rains, and road clearing work was launched on a war-footing across the state.
Snowfall in the higher reaches of the state for four consecutive days has left nearly two dozen roads in both Kumaon and Garhwal regions clogged, disrupting traffic movement.
Dehradun recorded a minimum temperature of 4.5 degrees Celsius, while the mercury dipped in Mukteshwar and Tehri to settle at 2.0 degrees Celsius.
The IMD’s weather forecast said cold wave conditions are very likely in a few pockets in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and western Madhya Pradesh on Friday.
Dense to very dense fog cover is very likely in isolated areas in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Odisha, the agency added.
