Acold wave swept across north India as the mercury plunged to the season’s lowest in several places and fog affected movement of over a dozen trains of North Western Railways on Monday.
Though it was a clear Monday morning in the national Capital, the minimum temperature for the first time since the onset of winter settled at 6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, according to MeT department.
“The maximum temperature was recorded at 21.3 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal,” said a Met department official.
The humidity in air oscillated between 85 and 40 per cent. The MeT office has predicted clear skies for Tuesday. “The skies will be mainly clear. Shallow to moderate fog would occur at many places in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover at 6 and 21 degrees Celsius,” said the weatherman.
The twin towns of leh and Kargil in the ladakh region remained frozen at minus 12 degrees Celsius while the biting cold continued in Kashmir Valley.
leh experienced the coldest night of the season so far as the mercury settled at minus 12.2 degrees against the previous night’s low of minus 12.1 degrees, a Met department official said.
He said the night temperature in leh has decreased by more than seven degrees over the last two days and the town continues to be the coldest recorded place in Jammu & Kashmir. In Kargil town, the minimum temperature recorded at minus 12.1 degrees Celsius, the official said.
Srinagar — the summer capital of the State — recorded a low of 2.0 degrees, up by nearly three degrees from minus 0.8 degrees the previous night. The MET office has said there is a possibility of isolated rains over two days from Wednesday.
In Uttarakhand, the maximum temperature hovered around 7 degrees Celsius, two degrees below the normal, in the plain districts.
The maximum and minimum temperatures settled at 19.9 degrees C and 7.5 degrees C respectively in Dehradun. However, the minimum is likely to dip by at least two notches in the city in the coming days, said weatherman.
Freezing cold gripped many parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab as temperatures dipped further. Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla, a popular tourist destination, saw the season’s lowest temperature of 2 degrees Celsius below the freezing point.
The temperatures remained below the freezing point at most places in Himachal despite dry weather, an official of the meteorological office said, adding it is likely to snow in the high hills from December 18.
Keylong, headquarters of lahaul-Spiti district, was the coldest at a minimum temperature of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, while the temperature was 6.8 degrees in Dharamsala, minus 3.6 degrees in Manali and 1.6 degrees in Dalhousie.
The state capital saw a high of 12.4 degree Celsius, while Kalpa and Dharamsala towns saw the day temperature at 8.8 and 14.2 degrees respectively. Narnaul recorded the lowest temperature at 2 degrees Celsius.
Icy cold winds also swept Hisar in Haryana, where the minimum temperature settled at 3.4 degrees, five notches below the normal level.
The minimum temperature in Chandigarh also dipped further to settle at 7.8 degrees. Amritsar recorded a low of 3.2 degrees. The temperature dropped considerably in Uttar Pradesh on Monday as the state got the first taste of winter chill of the season.
Chilly winds swept most parts of Uttar Pradesh and according to the Met department, Monday was the coldest day of the season in lucknow and neighbouring areas. While the weather office has forecast sunny days ahead, fog and icy winds from hills are likely to add to the winter bite.
The temperature at night averages 6.8 degrees Celsius. Over a dozen trains run behind their schedule in Northern and North-Eastern Railways, an official from railways department said. Trains were running late by about 30 minutes to 9 hours owing to fog in neighbouring states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, an NWR, CPRO Tarun Jain said here.
Srigangangar-Rishikesh train has been rescheduled due to foggy weather for Monday, he added. Hawara-Srigangangar train is running about 9 hours and 20 minutes late, followed by New Tansukhia-lalgarh by 5 hours and 25 minutes, the official said.