Northern states battle intense cold, fog; little relief for Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) Intense cold persisted in northern India as several places besides Kashmir, where the night temperatures remained sub-zero, witnessed mercury plummeting to as low as 0.9 degrees Celsius with a thick blanket of fog engulfing major cities in the early hours of Friday.

Haryana and Punjab reeled under intense chill. Bhiwani in Haryana was the coldest place in the state with a low of 1.5 degrees Celsius, while Ballowal Saunkhri in Punjab's SBS Nagar district recorded a low of 0.9 degrees Celsius.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), among other places in Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 5.8 degrees Celsius, Karnal 6.2 degrees, Gurugram 4.9 degrees, Rohtak 5.2 degrees, while Faridabad registered a low of 4.9 degrees.

Similarly, biting cold prevailed in Punjab's Gurdaspur, Bathinda and Amritsar with minimums settling at 2.7 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees and 3.2 degrees, respectively.

Ludhiana recorded a low of 5.2 degrees Celsius, while in Patiala the mercury settled at 6 degrees.

Additionally, fog reduced visibility during the morning hours at many places in the two states, including their common capital, Chandigarh, which recorded a low of 5.3 degrees Celsius.

For Rajasthan, too, there was no relief from harsh winter weather. As many as four places — Alwar, Nagaur, Fatehpur and Karauli recorded minimums around 3 degrees Celsius. However, the minimum temperature in Jaipur settled at 9.5 degrees.

The national capital, however, saw a respite from harsh weather as temperatures rose marginally. It recorded a minimum temperature of 4.3 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 3.3 notches below normal, according to IMD.

Among other stations, Palam recorded a minimum of 4.7 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees below normal, while Lodhi Road also logged 4.7 degrees, 1.3 degrees below normal.

In the early morning hours, dense fog conditions were observed. Safdarjung reported the lowest visibility of 150 metres at 8 AM, which improved to 300 metres by 8.30 AM. At Palam, visibility dropped to 150 metres at 7.30 AM before improving to 300 metres at 8 AM.

Though there was relief on the weather front, there was no respite on the air quality front. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital remained in the ‘very poor’ category, with the reading of 354 in the evening.

Consequently, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas, or CAQM, invoked GRAP 3 curbs.

While GRAP 3 restrictions were revoked on January 2 after the air quality improved, several preventive and control measures under GRAP 1 and 2 continue across the NCR.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, too, dense to very dense fog prevailed at many places.

According to the IMD, weather remained dry across the state, with no rainfall reported from any district during the last 24 hours.

Lucknow, the state capital, recorded maximum temperature at 19.6 degrees Celsius, which was 1.4 degrees below normal, while the minimum settled at 5.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the seasonal average.

Minimum temperatures also dipped significantly at other places, including Hardoi (4 degrees Celsius), Kanpur city (4), Ayodhya (4), Najibabad (4), Muzaffarnagar (4.1), Moradabad (4.2) and Bareilly (4.8), remaining 2 to 5 degrees Celsius below normal.

In Noida, schools up to Class 8 across the district will remain closed on Friday and Saturday due to dense fog and extreme cold.

The northermost region of the country, Kashmir, saw minimum temperatures across the region improving on Friday, settling above the seasonal average. However, nearly all the places continued to experience sub-zero night temperatures, except in Kokernag, where the minimum settled above the freezing point.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday night, up from minus 3.9 degrees Celsius the previous night. It was half a degree above the seasonal average in the city, officials said.

Pulwama in south Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley on Thursday night, with the mercury settling at minus 4.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam recorded a minimum temperature of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius, up from minus 5 degrees Celsius the previous night.

Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district registered a low of minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, the IMD officials said.

In J&K's neighbouring state of Himachal, Tabo in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest during the night, recording a low of minus 5.2 degrees.

As per the Shimla Met office, the minimum temperature in many places of the state was below 2 or 3 degrees Celsius.

As a result, severe cold wave conditions prevailed in Berthing in Hamirpur district, while cold wave conditions were observed in Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una and Mandi. PTI TEAM AMJ AMJ AMJ