Severe cold grips north India, IMD says mercury could dip further in some parts

New Delhi: e winter chill intensified in most parts of north India on Wednesday as night temperatures in the Kashmir Valley dipped in most parts to settle below zero degrees, while it inched closer to the freezing point even in parts of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

The national capital, however, saw a brief respite from the bitter cold during the day and saw a sunny afternoon and higher daytime temperatures.

In Himachal Pradesh, the weather department issued a yellow warning for a cold wave, ground frost and dense fog for some places in five of the 12 districts in the state -- Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi.

Due to a western disturbance, there is a possibility of rain and snowfall in parts of northwest India later in the week, the weather office said.

The India Meteorological Department said in its Wednesday bulletin that minimum temperatures are likely to fall by about 2 degrees Celsius in northwest India during the next 24 hours and a gradual rise by 2-4 degrees thereafter.

It said that cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab on Thursday and Friday; Rajasthan on Friday; Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh on Friday and Saturday.

Cold conditions persisted in parts of Rajasthan where Fatehpur of Sikar district recorded night temperature at 1.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the state, the weather department said.

The weather in the state remained mainly dry in the last 24 hours and cold waves were recorded at some places, the Met office said.

During this period, the lowest minimum temperature of 1.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in Fatehpur. The minimum temperature in Nagur was recorded at 1.7 degrees, Sirohi at 2.7 degrees, Jalore at 2.9 degrees, Lunkaransar (Bikaner) at 3.9 degrees, Churu at 4 degrees, Dausa at 4.2 degrees, Sikar at 4.5 degrees, Bhilwara at 4.6 degrees in Bhilwara, it said.

The night temperature was 6.4 degrees Celsius in the capital Jaipur, it said.

The weather in the state is likely to remain mainly dry for a few days and the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to fall by two to four degrees Celsius in most parts.

Dense fog was observed at many places in Punjab and Haryana, with visibility reduced to zero in Amritsar. In Chandigarh, the common capital of both states, the visibility was down to 80 metres. Fog was also observed in Haryana’s Karnal and Ambala.

Sangrur was the coldest place in Punjab, recording a minimum temperature of 3 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, the Met office said.

Amritsar registered a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 6.8 degrees and Patiala 7.4 degrees. Chandigarh recorded a low of 8.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.