Cold spells, fog blankets prevail in northern India, night temperatures continue to dip

SRINAGAR/CHANDIGARH: A thick blanket of fog enveloped several parts of Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday morning as cold weather conditions continued to prevail in the two states.

Fog reduced visibility at several places in the morning, a Meteorological Department official said.

While the minimum temperatures continued to dip at night in most parts of Kashmir even as dense fog disrupted early morning life for the second consecutive day in the Valley on Tuesday, officials

said here.

Dense fog was reported from Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Halwara, Bathinda and Faridkot in Punjab and Karnal, Hisar, Ambala and Sirsa in Haryana.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius on Monday night, a slight decrease from the previous night’s minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, they said.

Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius, they said, adding that it was the coldest recorded place in the Kashmir Valley.

Gulmarg, a famous ski resort in Baramulla, recorded a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, officials said.

A dense layer of fog engulfed Srinagar city, affecting normal life for the second consecutive day, officials said. “The visibility in Srinagar at 9.25 am was 91 metres due to the fog cover.”

Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ — the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably, leading to the freezing of water bodies, including the Dal Lake, as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the Valley.