Cold wave tightens grip on northern India

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Several parts of northern India reeled under intense cold conditions on Wednesday, with Jammu and Kashmir’s resort town Pahalgam recording its minimum temperature at minus 11.7 degrees Celsius and Delhi logging its eighth cold wave day in January.

Among other parts of the region, Rajasthan’s Sikar, Churu and Karauli districts saw minimum temperatures drop below the freezing point and Fatehpur city recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab and Haryana, severe cold weather conditions continued unabated as minimum temperatures hovered below normal limits at most places in the region.

National capital Delhi logged its eighth cold wave day in January on Wednesday, the most in the month in at least 12 years, according to data available on the India Meteorological Department (IMD) website.

Sadarjung observatory, the city’s primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius.

Delhi saw seven cold wave days in January 2020, while it did not record any such day last year. The city recorded an intense cold wave spell from January 5 to 9 this year, the second-longest in the month in a decade, according to the IMD data.

The national capital has not recorded any rainfall this winter season so far.

Cold wave conditions intensified in Kashmir with the minimum temperature plunging further below the freezing point across the Valley owing to clear skies, even as the meteorological department has forecast rains and snow from Thursday.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius, Qazigund, the gateway to the Valley, minus 7.4 degrees Celsius, south Kashmir’s Kokernag minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, and Kupwara minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, officials said.

Pahalgam in Anantnag district, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 11.7 degrees Celsius, almost same as the previous night.

The minimum temperature at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla district also settled around minus 11.5 degrees Celsius.

The meteorological office said the weather will remain mainly dry across J-K till January 18. There will be a further decrease in the night temperature till that time.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai Kalan’, the 40-day harshest weather period when the chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent.

In Rajasthan, intense cold conditions persisted on Wednesday. The night temperature was minus 1.5 degrees Celsius in Sikar, minus 1.2 degrees Celsius in Churu and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius in Karauli, according to a meteorological department report.

Sangaria (Hanumangarh), Chittorgarh, Alwar and Anta (Baran) recorded minimum temperatures at 0.3 degree Celsius, 0.1 degree Celsius, 0.5 degree Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius respectively, while it was 3.1 degrees Celsius in Sriganganagar and 8.4 degrees Celsius in Dungarpur.

The department has predicted relief from the intense cold wave conditions in the state from Thursday.

In Punjab, Bathinda recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.2 degree Celsius, Faridkot 0.5 degree Celsius respectively, Amritsar 2.9 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 2.8 degrees Celsius, Patiala 2.6 degrees Celsius, Pathankot 3.8 degrees Celsius, Gurdaspur 2 degrees Celsius, Moga 0.5 degree Celsius and Mohali 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh recorded a low of 3.3 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Narnaul recorded a minimum temperature of 0.5 degree Celsius, Sirsa 1 degree Celsius, Hisar 2 degrees Celsius, Karnal 2.4 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 2.8 degrees Celsius and Ambala 4.9 degrees Celsius.