A slight jump in the mercury in the north today brought some relief from the biting cold wave conditions sweeping the region even as fog caused disruptions in rail and flight schedules in a few areas.
In Delhi, the minimum rose two notches above normal to settle at 9 degrees Celsius as against the 7.8 degrees yesterday but a chilly breeze from the north dragged the maximum temperature down three notches from the normal as it touched 17.6 degrees.
There was fog in the morning, but it had dissipated by afternoon with visibility improving from 500 metres at 8.30 A.M. To 1,500 metres at 5.30 P.M. The schedules of 25 north- bound trains, including Rewa Express and Purshottam Express, were hit by the fog, which also delayed seven flights.
Weatherman has predicted moderate to dense fog in the morning tomorrow with a further slide in the mercury.
In Leh, where the minimum rose three notches, there was some respite from the cold and the town in the frontier Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a minimum of -7.5 degrees after seeing the mercury touch -10 degrees the night before.
It was the warmest night in 10 days in the frontier town and the night temperature increased by about 10 degrees from the season’s coldest of -17.1 degrees on January 2.
Kargil, also in Ladakh region, registered a low of -13 degrees, one notch higher than the -14 degrees the previous night. It was the coldest recorded place in the state.
Srinagar, the summer capital of J-K, saw the mercury settle at -1.4 degrees, a drop by a notch from the previous night’s -0.3 degrees.
The MeT office has said there is a possibility of light rain or snowfall at isolated places in J-K in the coming 24 hours. However, the weather would remain mainly dry and cold over the state from tomorrow, it added.
The Uttarakhand state capital of Dehradun though found itself under a thick blanket of fog even as the city experienced one of the coldest days of the season with the maximum dropping 8 degrees below normal to settle at 11.4 degrees.
The minimum across Punjab and Haryana today hovered above normal levels, but the two neighbouring states were very much in the grip of the cold and also witnessed fog today. Icy cold winds swept the region during the day, causing the maximum to plummet several notches below normal.
Amritsar was the coldest place in Punjab at 2.2 degrees while Narnaul in Haryana registered a low of 5.5 degrees. (AGENCIES)
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