Near-zero temperatures in Haryana, Punjab; mercury plunges in Jharkhand too

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) As India is celebrating harvest festivals, marking the gathering of crops and the beginning of longer, warmer days, parts of northern India are still experiencing biting cold.

On Thursday, Haryana's Hisar shivered at O.2 degrees Celsius while Delhi recorded its lowest January minimum since 2023. The bone-chilling conditions, however, weren't confined to the northern region alone. Eastern states of West Bengal and Jharkhand, too, experienced intense cold.

According to India Meteorological Deparment, the mercury levels dropped to freezing levels in Punjab and Haryana, with Hisar being the coldest place in the two states.

Haryana's Narnaul recorded a low of 1.5 degrees Celsius and Nuh 4.6 degrees.

Gurugram recorded a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius, Ambala 5 degrees Celsius, Karnal 4.8 degrees Celsius, Faridabad 4.1 degrees Celsius and Rohtak 4.4 degrees Celsius. These temperatures were up to four notches below normal.

In Punjab, Bathinda was the coldest place at 1.6 degrees Celsius, the weather department said. Amritsar recorded a low of 5.3 degrees, Ludhiana 5.2 degrees, Patiala 5.1 degrees, Hoshiarpur 4.4 degrees and Faridkot 3.5 degrees Celsius. These temperatures were up to 4 degrees below normal.

Chandigarh, the common capital of Haryana and Punjab, recorded a low of 4.5 degrees Celsius.

In the national capital, cold wave conditions tightened their grip for the fifth consecutive day as temperatures fell sharply across the city, with the chill expected to persist at least into Friday.

The minimum temperature plunged to 2.9 degrees Celsius — its coldest morning of the season. This temperature was recorded at Safdarjung — the city’s primary weather station.

This was the lowest reading at Safdarjung since 2023, when the mercury dropped to 1.4 degrees Celsius on January 16.

Day temperatures remained suppressed across the city. Safdarjung recorded a maximum temperature of 19.5 degrees Celsius, whereas it was 16.2 degrees Celsius at Palam, which was 3.5 degrees below normal.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained a major concern. The city recorded a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 349, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

Temperatures in Kashmir went up slightly but remained well below the freezing point, the IMD officials said.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.9 degrees Celsius on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, up from minus 5.2 degrees the previous night, they said.

Bone-chilling cold conditions have frozen parts of several water bodies, including the interiors of the Dal Lake here.

Shopian in south Kashmir was the coldest recorded place, with the mercury settling at minus 6.1 degrees Celsius, up from minus 7.5 degrees. Pulwama also recorded minus 6.1 degrees.

Pahalgam, a tourist resort in south Kashmir and one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.0 degrees Celsius, the officials said.

Kashmir Valley is currently in the midst of 'Chilla-i-Kalan', the 40-day harshest winter period, during which night temperatures frequently plunge several degrees below the freezing point and snowfall chances are the highest.

'Chilla-i-Kalan', which began on December 21 last year, will end on January 30.

In eastern India, the temperature plummeted to O.8 degrees Celsius in Gumla, amid a cold wave alert for 13 districts. Gumla was followed by Khunti and Daltonganj, 2.7 and 3.7 degrees Celsius respectively, the IMD said in a bulletin.

The minimum temperature in Bokaro and Simdega was recorded at 4.9 and 5.2 degrees Celsius, respectively, while Lohardaga registered 6 degrees.

In Jharkhand's neighbouring state, West Bengal, the IMD said the Darjeeling district recorded the state's lowest minimum temperature on at 3 degrees Celsius. Sriniketan was the coldest place in West Bengal's plains at 8.8 degrees.

Other places which recorded significantly low minimum temperatures include Bankura (9.2 degrees Celsius), Jalpaiguri (9.5), Cooch Behar (9.6), Jhargram (9.8) and Asansol (9.9), the IMD said.

Kolkata recorded a minimum temperature of 13.2 degrees Celsius.

Odisha is also battling cold weather, which will persist across the state for the next two days, with no significant relief in sight, as per the weather department.

According to the IMD’s mid-day bulletin, Rourkela recorded 6.6 degrees Celsius, G Udaygiri in Kandhamal (5.2), Phulabani (7.3), Similiguda in Koraput (7.7), Jharsuguda (7.8), both Angul and Dhenkanal (8.6), Keonjhar (9.4), Cuttack (10.4) and Bhubaneswar (11.8). PTI TEAM AMJ AMJ AMJ