According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), severe cold wave conditions are likely to persist at various places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.
IMD said that Kashmir will get the next spell of snow with the onset of Chillai Kalan. Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21(Chillai Kalan) followed by 20 days of Chillai khurd, which translates to small cold and 10 days of Chille bache (literally, baby cold). Chillai-Kalan is the 40-day period of harsh winter. The winter solstice happens on Monday, December 21, 2020, first day of “Chillai Kalan”. This is the astronomical first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day of the year.
v On this day, the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at midday, marked by the longest and shortest days. Chillai Kalan known as Chilla’ in Delhi, ‘Chilla Jada’ in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly according to Persian tradition, night of 21st December is celebrated as Shab-e Yalda-”Night of Birth”, or Shab-e Chelleh. – “Night of Forty”. Iranian Azerbaijanis call it Chilla Gejasi, which marks the beginning of the first 40 days of winter. The Iranian concept also survives in Kashmir, where Chillai Kalan designates the 40-day harshest winter period.
The bone-chilling cold conditions continue in the Kashmir valley where night temperatures are continuously dipping. Srinagar city witnessed the coldest night of the season with a freezing night temperature of minus 7 degree Celsius while mercury at world famous Dal Lake plummeted to minus 6 degree Celsius on Saturday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ladakh recorded a worse fall in temperature, where Drass recorded the coldest night in the country at minus 29 degrees Celsius. Similarly, other parts of Leh recorded minus 18.3 degrees Celsius. The temperature in Kargil was minus 21.1 degrees Celsius.
The IMD update said that ongoing cold to very cold spell over North-West and Central India is now fraught with an associated risk of ground frost over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh during the next two days.
“The cold spell will also be accompanied by strong surface winds speed reaching 10-20 km/hr adding to the frigid conditions. The wind chill factor would, in turn, lead to severe cold wave conditions during this period, said IMD.
Keylong, Kalpa, Manali, Solan, Chamba and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh shivered at sub-zero temperatures in the last 24 hours in Himachal Pradesh. The tribal district Lahaul-Spiti’s administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 12.1 degrees Celsius. Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius.