Intense cold wave today swept across large parts of north India, including Uttar Pradesh where a sexagenarian died, with the weather remaining dry even as fog disrupted road and rail traffic in a few areas.
In the national capital, the mercury plummeted with the minimum temperature settling at 6.4 degrees Celsius, a fall of over three notches from yesterday. The maximum too registered a sharp fall from yesterday’s 20.7 degrees and settled at 13.1 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal.
Early morning fog continued to disrupt rail services with the operations of 55 north-bound trains including the Rajdhani Expresses coming from Patna, Kolkata and Dibrugarh getting affected. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were, however, normal in the morning hours.
One person died due to intense cold in Uttar Pradesh where dry weather conditions prevailed. Sixty-year-old Jagmal, a resident of Muzaffarnagar district, died yesterday after icy winds from the northern parts of the country resulted in a drop of minimum temperature.
According to the MeT department, temperatures dipped markedly in Allahabad and Meerut divisions, and the state’s lowest minimum was 1.8 degrees Celsius recorded at Naziabad.
Cold wave conditions persisted in Punjab and Haryana too, with thick fog in parts of the two states affecting road and rail traffic. Ludhiana was coldest in the two states and reeled under 4.8 degrees Celsius.
Amritsar’s low settled at 5.6 degrees while Patiala shivered under 6.3 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in Chandigarh was recorded at 5.8 degrees Celsius while Ambala’s low settled at 6.3 degrees. Minimum at Karnal and Narnaul were recorded at 4.8 and 6.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Meanwhile, cold wave tightened its grip on the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region as minimum temperatures dipped further below the freezing point with Kargil being the coldest recorded place in the state.
Kargil, in the frontier Ladakh region, registered a low of minus 16.0 degrees Celsius, a fall of three notches from minus 13.0 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Leh, also in Ladakh region, recorded a minimum of minus 10.9 degrees Celsius, down by over three notches from the previous night’s minus 7.5.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, saw a low of minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, a drop of over a degree from the previous night’s minus 1.4 degrees Celsius. (AGENCIES)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel