Biting cold conditions continued to grip Punjab, Haryana and their joint capital —Chandigarh with temperature levels plunging upto 13 degrees below normal at several places even as mist and fog on Thursday morning disrupted normal life in the region.
A thick blanket of fog continued for the second consecutive day and threw normal life out of gear at Chandigarh and many parts of neighbouring Punjab and Haryana on Thursday.
The fog hit hard air, train and road traffic across the region due to poor visibility. According to Chandigarh Meteorological Department, the dense fog was witnessed in most of cities in the region including Ambala, Chandigarh, Hissar, Karnal, Narnaul, Bhiwani, Amritsar, ludhiana, Patiala among others.
Meanwhile, the severe cold conditions and cloudy sky left the residents shivering throughout the day on Thursday. The Union Territory of Chandigarh recorded minimum temperature at 8 degree Celsius while maximum temperature settled at 13 degrees, eight notches below normal.
Amritsar- Punjab’s holy city was the coldest in the region and recorded a low of 2.4 degrees, down by two notches from normal. Amritsar also recorded lowest maximum temperature at 8.4 degree Celsius, 13 degrees below normal.
A Met official said that the temperature levels were recorded upto 13 degrees below normal in parts of the region. According to the Met Department forecast, days would be partly cloudy in Haryana and Punjab in next 24 hours. Fog would occur at some places during night and morning, said the Met official.
Punjab’s industrial city, ludhiana on Thursday recorded minimum temperature at 8.8 degree Celsius while Patiala saw a high of 8.4 degrees.
Among other places, Narnaul in Haryana witnessed minimum temperature at 3 degree Celsius, Ambala at 7.8 degrees, Bhiwani 5.4 degrees, Hissar 4 degrees and Karnal 7.5 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature recorded was 12.4 degree Celsius in ludhiana, 12.2 degrees in Ambala, 14.2 degrees in Bhiwani, 13 degree Celsius in Karnal, 12.4 degrees in Patiala and 14 degrees in Hissar.
In neighbouring hilly State Himachal, Shimla recorded minimum temperature at 6.1 degree Celsius and maximum at 17.4 degrees.