NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Mercury hovered below normal levels in most areas of north India today, intensifying the winter chill even as dense fog across vast swathes led to massive disruptions in road, rail and air traffic.
Hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir groaned under biting cold as night temperatures dipped by several notches, while the northern plains were covered under thick fog, which affected services of nearly 100 trains and dozens of flights.
The national capital, however, witnessed a pleasant day as a chilly morning gave way to bright sunshine, pushing the maximum temperature up to 20 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.
The minimum temperature also rose significantly with it being recorded a notch above the season’s average at 8.2 degrees Celsius, as compared to yesterday’s 5.8 degrees.
Early morning fog disrupted train and flight operations, with a total of 30 flights and 87 trains, including premier services like Rajdhani and Duronto, being delayed.
In Uttar Pradesh, several areas shivered under cold wave conditions. According to MeT officials, Nazibabad in Bijnore recorded the state’s lowest temperature at 3.2 degrees. Fog shrouded vast swathes of the State affecting normal life.
The Lucknow district administration, in view of extreme cold, has ordered closure of all schools up to Class VIII till January 21. “For Classes IX to XI, schools will remain open but the timings will be from 11 am to 2 pm,” Lucknow District Magistrate Rajshekhar told PTI.
Meanwhile, winter intensified its grip over Rajasthan with mercury falling by one to two degrees in most places.
According to the MeT department, the state’s sole hill station, Mount Abu, recorded the lowest temperature of the season at 1 degree Celsius last night. Minimum temperatures at Pilani, Churu, Sriganganagar and Kota were recorded at 4.2, 5.2, 6 and 6.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Dense fog disrupted movement of trains and road transport in the State throwing normal life out of gear. About a dozen trains were running late and five others were re-scheduled, according to a North Western Railway (NWR) spokesman.
Cold wave also continued unabated in Punjab and Haryana. Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in both the states as it recorded a minimum temperature of 3.1 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal. Amritsar in Punjab shivered at 3.5 degrees while Chandigarh registered a low at 5.8 degrees.
Several trains were running late and two flights from Bangalore and Delhi to Chandigarh were cancelled due to foggy weather conditions.
Meanwhile, bone-chilling cold returned to the Kashmir Valley as night temperatures plunged below the freezing point across the region after a brief respite owing to rains in the plains and snowfall in high altitude areas early this week.
Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, registered a dip of nearly three degrees in the night temperature which settled at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius after remaining above the freezing point for the past four nights. Yesterday, the city had recorded a low of 0.5 degree Celsius.
Kargil in the frontier Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place in the state with a low of minus 11.0 degrees Celsius. Leh recorded a minimum of minus 10.0 degrees Celsius against the previous night’s minus 8.3 degrees.
Famous ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a minimum of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius. Mercury in south Kashmir hill resort of Pahalgam registered a drop of two degrees from the previous night to settle at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.
Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley in south, recorded a dip of three degrees as night temperature settled at minus 3.8 degrees Celsius. Kupwara, in north Kashmir, had a low of 3.5 degrees Celsius.
In Himachal Pradesh, biting cold wave conditions sweeping the tribal areas and other higher hills further intensified as the mercury dropped by four to five degrees in tribal areas and hovered around the freezing point in mid and lower hills.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district and Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 12.2 and minus 5.0 degrees Celsius, respectively while Manali reeled under biting cold wave conditions with a minimum temperature of minus 3.2 degrees, followed by Sundernagar 0.4, Bhuntar 1.0, Una 1.4, Solan 1.5, Shimla 1.7, and Dharamsala 4.2 degrees Celsius.
High altitude tribal areas groaned under arctic conditions with night temperatures staying between minus 16 and minus 24 degrees Celsius.
Day temperatures, however, rose by a few notches and Una recorded a maximum of 23.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Solan 18.0, Dharamsala 15.2, Shimla 12.4, and Manali 10.6 degrees Celsius. (PTI)
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