NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Intensely cold weather continued to prevail in North India with Himachal Pradesh reeling under sub-zero temperatures.
The national capital remained cold with the minimum temperature settling at 8.3 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.
Keylong in the hill state recorded the lowest minimum temperature at minus 14.3 degrees Celsius, the meteorological department said.
While Kalpa in Kinnaur district registered a low of minus 2.9 degrees Celsius, Manali and Bhuntar in Kullu shivered at minus 3 and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius respectively, said Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh.
The meteorological department has predicted that the national capital is likely to witness the longest cold spell in December after 1997.
Another cold day is predicted on Tuesday in Delhi that has already witnessed eight consecutive cold days or an eight-day cold spell so far, said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of India Meteorological Department’s regional forecasting centre.
The minimum temperature across Kashmir and Ladakh decreased on Monday but in some respite to the residents, the weather remained dry and clouds made way for sunshine, a Meteorological Department official said.
Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 0.8 degree Celsius on Sunday night – down from 1.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The minimum temperature in Drass plummeted about six degrees from minus 21.6 degrees Celsius a day earlier to settle at a low of minus 27.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday night – down from the previous night’s minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, he said.
There was no let up in the cold wave sweeping parts of Haryana and Punjab over the past few days with Narnaul reeling at a minimum of 1.7 degrees Celsius on Monday.
Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place across both states recording a low of three degrees below normal minimum temperature, while Bathinda was the coldest place in Punjab at a minimum of 4.4 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 9.1 degrees Celsius.
Night temperatures dipped in parts of Rajasthan where Churu was the coldest place recording a minimum temperature of 3.5 degree Celsius on Monday.
The night temperatures are expected to further dip in the state in the next 24 hours, the Met department has predicted.
In Uttar Pradesh, dense fog occurred at a few places over the eastern parts of the state and moderate fog occurred at isolated places over the western parts, the Met department said.
Predicting the weather for Tuesday, it said cold conditions during the day along with rain and thundershowers are very likely at different places in the state. (PTI)
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