Cold wave conditions gripped Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday with the maximum and minimum temperatures dropping by several notches with Capital Chandigarh recording the coldest day of the season.
Fog led to reduced visibility at several places, including Chandigarh, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.
Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the two states recording a minimum temperature of 2.5 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees below normal.
While the minimum temperatures in the region hovered a few notches below the season’s average, the day temperatures too registered a sharp fall at several places.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum of 11.3 degrees Celsius, down 10 notches against normal, making it the Union Territory’s coldest day of the season so far. Chandigarh’’s day temperature was lower than Himachal Pradesh’’s capital of Shimla, which recorded a high of 14.9 degrees Celsius, as per a Meteorological Department weather report here.
On Monday, Chandigarh registered a maximum of 11.4 degrees Celsius.
Besides Narnaul, the minimum temperatures dropped at several places in Haryana.Hisar recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal followed by Rohtak (6), Bhiwani (6.3) and Ambala (7.7).
In Punjab, Faridkot was the coldest recording a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius followed by Bathinda (5.7), Adampur (6), Amritsar (6.4), Gurdaspur (7.1), Halwara (7.2), and Ludhiana (7.6). Meanwhile, the maximum temperatures in the two states hovered 7-10 degrees Celsius below normal. In Haryana, Karnal (11.4), Ambala (13.8) and Hisar (15.5) and in Punjab, Amritsar (11.5), Ludhiana (14.2) and Patiala (14.1) were among the places that recorded below normal maximum temperatures.
HIMACHAL CONTINUES TO REEL UNDER COLD CONDITIONS
Meanwhile, the weather remained dry and cold in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday as Manali, Sundernagar, Bhuntar, Keylong and Kalpa shivered at sub-zero temperatures with the weatherman predicting heavy rain and snowfall in the next two-three days.
The coldest place in the state was Lahaul-Spiti’s administrative centre Keylong which settled at minus 13.8 degrees Celsius, Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said. The meteorological department has forecast heavy rain and snowfall in the state between December 19-21.
The minimum temperature in Kalpa in Kinnaur district was minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali at minus 2.8 degrees, Sundernagar in Mandi district at minus 0.5 degrees and Bhuntar in Mandi district at minus 0.4 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Solan was 0.4 degrees, Chamba 0.6 degrees, Kufri 1.8 degrees, Dharamshala and Mandi 2.1 degrees each, Palampur 2.5 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie 3.1 degrees, Shimla 4 degrees, Hamirpur 5.2 degrees, Bilaspur 5.5 degrees, Una 5.6 degrees and Nahan 6.7 degrees Celsius, the weatherman said.