NEW DELHI: Several places in northern India, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, posted their low temperatures below the five-degree Celsius mark on Sunday, with the Indian Meteorological Department forecasting a severe cold snap in parts of the region. later this week and noticed fog.
Although the mercury rose slightly in Delhi due to a western unrest, the department said the relief will be short-lived as cold and dry winds from the north and northwest of the western Himalayas are likely to lower the minimum temperature in northern India from three at five degrees centigrade.
“Cold snap to severe cold snap conditions are likely to be found in isolated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and northern Rajasthan from December 28 to 29. Frost and dense fog will be found in isolated areas of the region, “the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Gurdaspur in Punjab and Churk in eastern Uttar Pradesh recorded lows of 2 degrees Celsius and 2.6 degrees Celsius respectively, while the cold snap intensified in Kashmir with lows falling across the region to stay several levels below the freezing point.
Gulmarg in northern Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, Qazigund minus five degrees Celsius, Kupwara minus 4.8 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, in the south, recorded minus 4.9 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department ( MeT) from Srinagar.
“There is very likely widespread to widespread rainfall / snowfall in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh; scattered rain / snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and isolated rain / thunderstorms in northern parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh from 27 to 28 December, “he said in his All India Weather Bulletin.
The minimum temperature in Delhi rose slightly under the influence of the Western Disturbance (WD) affecting the upper Himalayas, according to IMD.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a low of 6 degrees Celsius versus 4.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
However, Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional forecasting center, said the relief will be short-lived.
The WD will lead to “scattered to fairly widespread” snowfalls in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Once the wind system retreats, cold waves to severe cold waves are likely to occur in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and northern Rajasthan from December 28 to 29, he said.
For the plains, the IMD declares a cold snap when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or less and is 4.5 notches lower than normal.
Intense cold conditions continued to prevail in Haryana and Punjab, with Gurdaspur registering a minimum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius.
While Gurdaspur was the coldest place in Punjab, Narnaul was the coldest at 3.3 degrees Celsius in Haryana, the MeT department in Chandigarh said.
At Haryana, Karnal, Rohtak, Ambala, and Hisar all recorded respective lows of 3.8 degrees Celsius, 5.4 degrees Celsius, 4.6 degrees Celsius, and 5.8 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, registered a low of 4.1 degrees Celsius.
Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded respective lows of 4.8 degrees Celsius, 4.2 degrees Celsius and 3.9 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir is currently under the rule of ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the harshest 40-day winter period when a cold snap takes over the region and the temperature drops considerably, causing bodies of water to freeze, including the famous Dal Lake, as well as the water supply lines in various parts of the valley.
The weather has remained dry and cold in Kashmir since the snowfall on December 12, and the nighttime temperature remained several degrees below freezing, the MeT department said.
It has forecast light rain or snow in the Kashmir Valley for the next three days.
Officials said Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, registered a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, down from minus 3.7 degrees Celsius the night before.
They said that the mercury in the tourist destination of Pahalgam in southern Kashmir settled at minus 5.9 degrees Celsius, above more than a notch compared to last night’s low of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.
Chances of snowfall are most frequent and highest during the 40-day period and most areas, especially the higher reaches, receive heavy snowfall, authorities said.
While ‘Chillai-Kalan’, which started on December 21, will end on January 31, the cold snap continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (little cold) and a cold from 10 days. long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
Keylong, Kalpa, Manali, Mandi, Solan, Sundernagar and Bhuntar of Himachal Pradesh shuddered in freezing temperatures.
Keylong was the coldest place in the state at minus 11.6 degrees Celsius, said MeT Center Shimla director Manmohan Singh.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district and Manali in Kullu district registered lows of minus 3.4 and minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, it added.
In addition to Mandi, Bhuntar, Sundernagar and Solan recorded lows of minus 2, minus 1.6, minus 1.2 and minus 0.5 degrees Celsius respectively. Dalhousie and Kufri registered lows of 2.9 and 3.6 degrees Celsius respectively.
In Uttar Pradesh, cold wave conditions prevailed in isolated locations, while some locations witnessed dense to very dense fog, the MeT department in Lucknow said.
The weather in the state was dry, he said.
The state capital, Lucknow, recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, Allahabad 7.2 degrees Celsius, Kanpur 5.8 degrees Celsius, Bareilly 4.3 degrees Celsius and Fursatganj 3.1 degrees Celsius.
Mount Abu, Rajasthan’s only hill station, was recorded as the coldest place in the state at 2 degrees Celsius, even as several locations saw a two- or three-level rise in nighttime temperatures.
On the plains, Sriganganagar, Alwar and Sawai Madhopur recorded 6.2, 7.2 and 7.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday night.
Madhya Pradesh, especially its western region, is likely to experience cold snap conditions for the second time this month starting December 29, an IMD official said.
Much of the state had seen extreme cold conditions in the past week. However, the cold had subsided slightly and the minimum temperature had increased somewhat over the past few days.
“Cold snap conditions are likely to prevail in Madhya Pradesh, especially in its western part, for the second time this month starting Tuesday. These conditions may continue for the next three to four days after that,” PK Saha, Bhopal’s senior meteorologist from IMD bureau said.
“The disturbance from the west has caused snowfall in northern India. This will bring cold winds to Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. But cold wave conditions are not expected to last long in the state,” he said.
Extreme cold wave conditions are unlikely next week, he said.
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