Winter is spreading its wings deep in the country as cold waves gripped North India after snowfall in higher hills of Himachal Pradesh and fog conditions in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and north Rajasthan.
However, Kashmir valley experienced a slight relief from intense cold (from previous night’s minus 2 degrees Celsius) as the minimum temperature went up in the region, but mercury plummeted in ladakh by several degrees.
While it was not a white Christmas exactly in Shimla, the tourists were thrilled and rushed out from their hotels to enjoy the snowflakes.
The minimum temperature in the city dipped to 3.5 degrees Celsius.
The national Capital remained enveloped in layer of shallow fog until afternoon, causing delay in services of 80 trains and rescheduling of 20 others.
In Uttar Pradesh, dense fog occurred at many places, resulting in deaths of seven people and injuring 14 others in separate road accidents.
Railway officials said 80 Delhi-bound trains were running behind schedule by several hours, while 20 others required to be rescheduled owing to poor visibility, leaving some passengers stranded.
However, no announcement of fresh cancellation of services was made.
Flight operations though remained normal, officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport said.
According to a MeT department official, the mercury settled at 15.4 degrees Celsius at 2:30 pm, when the visibility was recorded 500 metres, considered as low for the period.
At 8:30 am, the visibility was recorded at 600 metres. It further dropped to 300 metres at 11:30 am before improving three hours later. Sun was not visible throughout the day.
The MeT department, earlier in the day, predicted that the maximum temperature will hover around 24 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was recorded at 11.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above season’s average.
Kalpa in Kinaur district in Himachal Pradesh received 7 cm of snow while Kufri and Narkanda had 2 cm and 5 cm of snow. The State Capital Shimla had 1 cm rains while Solan, Kangra and Dharamsala received 6 mm, 2 mm and 5 mm of rains.
Srinagar, the summer Capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius which is an increase of over two degrees from the previous night’s minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET department said.
He said along with the Capital city, the night temperature marked an increase across the Valley, except the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, where the mercury went down by nearly three degrees to settle at a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.
The resort had registered the low of minus 2 degrees Celsius on the previous night.
Pahalgam hill resort, in south Kashmir, witnessed a low of minus 2.9 degrees Celsius, which is an increase of nearly two degrees from minus 4.6 degrees Celsius 24 hours earlier.
The night temperature in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, went up by over four degrees from Saturday’s minus 4 degrees Celsius to settle above the freezing point at a low of 0.3 degree Celsius, the official said.
He said Kokernag, in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.2 degrees while Kupwara, in north, registered the minimum of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.
Kargil, in ladakh region, was the coldest recorded place in the State as the night temperature there went down by nearly six degrees from the previous night’s minus 4.1 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 9.9 degrees Celsius, the official said.
He said the nearby leh town recorded a low of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, a decrease of nearly eight degrees from minus 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ considered the harshest period of winter, when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
‘Chillai-Kalan’ which began on December 21, ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues. The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
Shimla and its surrounding areas received slight traces of snowfall followed by showers while the adjoining tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda had light snowfall, bringing cheers to tourists who had thronged the state capital on the occasion of Christmas.
The sky remained heavily overcast with high velocity chilly winds sweeping the region, causing drop in mercury.
The minimum temperature in Keylong and Kalpa in tribal areas recorded a low of minus 2.1 and minus 1.4 degrees, followed by, Bhuntar 2 degrees, Manali 3.4 degrees, Shimla 8 degree, Sundernagar 5.8 degree, Solan 7 degrees, Nahan 8.6, Dharamshala 9.8 degrees and Una 10.5 degrees C.
Cold wave conditions at isolated places is very likely over interior Odisha and dense fog at a few places with very dense fog at isolated places is very likely over east Uttar Pradesh, according to the report.
The report also predicted dense fog over West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Punjab and north Rajasthan.