NEW DELHI: Cold wave conditions intensified in northern India on Tuesday with fresh snowfall reported in hilly areas and Delhi registering a minimum temperature 3.6 degrees Celsius.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IM D), a western disturbance caused “scattered to fairly widespread” snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Cold, dry winds from the north and north-west of the western Himalayas have been whipping the plains, dropping minimum temperatures in northern India, IMD said.
Delhi reels below cold wave
Delhi reeling under a cold snap as icy winds that hit the city lowered the minimum temperature to 3.6 degrees Celsius.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 18.1 degrees Celsius, two levels below normal.
The weather stations at Ayanagar and Lodhi Road recorded a low of 2.6 degrees Celsius and 2.7 degrees Celsius respectively.
In the plains, the IMD declares a cold snap if the minimum temperature drops to 4 degrees Celsius. A severe cold snap is when the minimum is 2 degrees Celsius or less.
The IMD said that mercury could fall further on New Year’s Eve.
Kashmir records moderate snowfall
Most places in Kashmir saw moderate snowfall, cheering those associated with tourism and commerce as they expect business to pick up by New Year’s Eve.
Authorities said the snowfall started in Srinagar around 7 am, several hours after it started in the neighboring districts of Budgam and Pulwama.
The Gulmarg ski resort in northern Kashmir recorded seven inches of fresh snow, while the Pahalgam station in the south and the Sonamarg station in central Kashmir received around three to four inches of snow each, they added. .
The snowfall before the new year has caused many domestic tourists and locals to rush to Gulmarg and Pahalgam, authorities said.
The low temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was zero degrees Celsius on Monday night.
The mercury was deposited at minus 3 degrees Celsius at Pahalgam, minus 7.5 degrees Celsius at Gulmarg, minus 0.4 degrees Celsius at Qazigund, minus 1 degrees Celsius at Kupwara, and minus 3 degrees Celsius at Kokernag.
Gulmarg was the coldest place on record in the valley.
Cold wave in Himachal Pradesh
Cold wave conditions intensified in Himachal Pradesh as minimum temperatures dropped one to two levels, the IMD said.
Keylong, Kalpa, Dalhousie and Kufri shuddered in freezing temperatures, he added.
The Lahaul-Spiti administrative center, Keylong, remained the coldest place in the state at minus 10.3 degrees Celsius, IMD said, adding that it also received 0.6mm of snow.
Kalpa in the Kinnaur district registered a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius. Minimum temperatures in Dalhousie, Manali, Kufri, Seobagh, Solan and Bhuntar were set at minus 2.9, minus 2.6, minus 0.2, minus 1.5, minus 0.4 and minus 0.1 degrees Celsius respectively.
Shimla registered a low of 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Cold snap conditions in parts of Haryana and Punjab
The cold snap conditions hitting most of Haryana and Punjab in recent days intensified further on Tuesday, with the low at Hisar settling at zero degrees Celsius.
It was the coldest night of the season so far in many places, including Hisar, Narnaul, Amritsar, and Chandigarh.
The low at Haryana’s Hisar fell six points below normal, while Amritsar registered 0.4 degrees Celsius, authorities said.
Narnaul in Haryana also staggered under intense cold, registering a low of 0.3 degrees Celsius, five levels below normal.
Karnal, Sirsa, Rohtak and Ambala recorded a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees Celsius and 3.5 degrees Celsius respectively.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also staggered under severe cold, registering a low of 2.8 degrees Celsius.
Cold winds sweep through rajasthan
High and low temperatures dropped in most places in Rajasthan as cold winds hit the state, authorities said.
The state’s only hill station, Mount Abu, recorded a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius, followed by Sikar (minus 1 degrees), Churu (zero degrees) and Pilani and Bhilwara at 1 degrees Celsius each, they added.
The Met department has issued a severe cold warning in around a dozen districts in the Jaipur, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Ajmer and Kota divisions of northeastern Rajasthan through December 31.
Dry weather in UP
The weather remained dry in Uttar Pradesh with shallow to moderate fog recorded in isolated locations in the past 24 hours, authorities said.
Daytime temperatures fell appreciably in the Kanpur, Moradabad and Agra divisions, but there were no major changes in the remaining divisions of the state.
The lowest temperature in the state was recorded in Bareilly at 4.2 degrees Celsius, while the highest temperature was recorded in Prayagraj at 26 degrees Celsius.
Mumbaikars wakes up to a cold morning
Mumbaikars woke up to a cold Tuesday morning when the minimum temperature dropped to 15 degrees Celsius in the city, the lowest of the season, the IMD said.
The cool and cool breeze trend will continue for the next 48 hours, he added.
Minimum temperatures also dropped in other parts of Maharashtra. Nashik recorded a low of 11.8 degrees Celsius, Pune 13 degrees Celsius and Thane 17 degrees Celsius.
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