North India reels under bitter cold, Kargil records coldest at minus 11.2 degrees Celsius

NEW DELHI: A vast swath of North India reeled under severe cold conditions on Saturday, with the Kargil town in Jammu and Kashmir recording the season's coldest night at minus 11.2 degrees celsius.

The town recorded a low of minus 11.2 degrees Celsius, down by one degree from the previous night, and it was the lowest recorded night temperature of the season so far in the state, a MeT official said.

While in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, the mercury dropped to 1.1 degrees Celsius, down by one degree from the previous night, Jammu recorded coldest night of the season at 5.1 degrees Celsius.

Other places in the state, such as Leh recorded a minimum temperature of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius, Qazigund in south Kashmir was 2.8 degrees Celsius, Kokernag town minus 3.2 degrees Celsius and Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, the official added.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg and Pahalgam in north Kashmir also experienced sever cold conditions, with minus 8.4 degrees Celsius and minus 3.5 degrees Celsius respectively. The MeT office has forecast a mainly dry weather in the state over the next few days.

In Himachal Pradesh, the minimum temperature at several places plunged below the freezing point, with state capital Shimla, experiencing an overnight temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius. The Popular tourist destination of Manalirecorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees. Kalpa, some 250 km from Shimla in Kinnaur district, also saw a low of minus three degrees while it was minus 8.7 degrees in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district, the coldest in the state.

According to a Met official here, cold conditions would continue in the hill state despite dry weather till December 19. However, those involved in tourism sector said they are happy over snow at several tourist destinations.

Punjab and Haryana have also experienced cold conditions on Saturday, with a thick blanket of fog impacting the air, rail and road traffic in the region. Bathinda was the coldest in the region, recording a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, the MeT department said.

While Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius, one notch above season's average, Ludhiana and Amritsar braved a minimum temperature of 4.1 degrees Celsius each, three notches below normal.

Narnaul in Haryana settled at a low of 3.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, followed Faridkot (4), Hisar (4.5), Pathankot (6) and Patiala (6.3). Karnal recorded a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Rohtak (6.9) and Ambala (8).

Meanwhile, the air, rail and road traffic remained adversely affected due to fog during night and morning in the region, officials said. The weather department has forecast further dip in temperatures in the region during the next 48 hours.

In Lucknow, the icy winds were blowing across the city and neighbouring areas on Saturday, bringing down the mercury. As the sun shone brightly, the weatherman said the biting winter has arrived. Winds were blowing at speeds of 30 kmph. There was likely to be fog till Monday.

Director of the Regional Met Office J.P. Gupta said temperatures were likely to fall further in the coming days.

The minimum temperature recorded in the state capital here in the last 24 hours was 16 degrees Celsius while the maximum was 23.6 degrees celsius.

Gorakhpur was colder with minimum temperatures recorded at 13 degrees Celsius, Varanasi recorded a minimum temperature of 19 while Allahabad 17 and Kushinagar was cold at 14 degrees Celsius.

Churu in Rajasthan was the coldest place in the state, with 1.8 degrees Celsius last night, the meteorological department said on Saturday.

Other places in the state such as Pilani and Sriganganagar recorded minimum temperatures of 2.4 and 3.9 degrees Celsius respectively, while the night temperature at Bikaner, Sikar, Vanasthali, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Kota was 5.2, 5.5, 7.6, 9.1, 9.8, 10.7 and 12.2 degrees Celsius respectively, according to a MeT report.

A dense to very dense fog was also witnessed at a few places in the northern parts of the desert state, which affected vehicular traffic, the report said.

The national capital has also experienced a cold morning on Saturday with the minimum temperature recorded at 7.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average. The visibility stood at 1,000 metres and humidity was 94 per cent at 8.30 a.m. Cold conditions would continue to prevail in the next few days in Delhi, MeT officials said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain conducted a surprise inspection of night-shelters in the city. He first visited a shelter in the vicinity of AIIMS and then went to Dandi Park shelter at Yamuna Nazar in Kashmere Gate, officials said.

(With agency inputs)