By IANS
New Delhi : The bone-chilling cold gave way a little in the capital Tuesday with the mercury rising by two notches, but the icy winds took away that comfort too. The intense cold is likely to continue for a few more days, the met office said.
The minimum in the national capital rose to 5.5 degrees Celsius Tuesday – two degrees higher than the 3.4 degrees Celsius of Monday – the lowest for the month of February in nearly a decade.
“Though the sun was shining, the icy cold winds took away the warmth. It is so cold it doesn’t feel like February at all,” said Arunima, a college student in the capital.
The minimum across the northern plains continued to be below normal with Lucknow and Patna recording temperatures five degrees below normal.
Jaipur in Rajasthan recorded 3.4 degrees Celsius – seven degrees below normal.
The heavy snowfall for the past several days in Jammu and Kashmir and the consequent shortage of food has created new problems for humans as well as animals in the state.
“Man-animal conflicts are witnessing a sudden spurt as heavy snowfall in the valley’s forests are forcing wild animals towards human habitations,” said Ali Mohammed Khan, an environmentalist.
Two leopards and a jackal have died and nearly 35 people have been injured in the past week in such incidents in the Kashmir valley.
The situation is expected to get worse as the met office has forecast that the cold wave would continue in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and other areas in northern India till Thursday and extend eastwards.
The Met Office has warned of ground frost over some parts of Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
The lowest minimum temperature in the plains was minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, recorded at Amritsar in Punjab.
The following are the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall in major cities for 24 hours till Tuesday morning, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average.
City Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Rainfall
(C) (C) (mm)
Delhi 21.0 (-2) 5.5 (-5) Nil
Mumbai 28.7 (-2) 14.0 (-3) Nil
Chennai 31.8 (+2) 25.1 (+4) Nil
Kolkata 25.7 (-3) 13.7 (-2) Nil
Ahmedabad 25.5 (-6) 9.6 (-4) Nil
Bangalore 29.5 (-4) 20.3 (+4) 10.0
Bhopal 24.4 (-3) 8.4 (-4) Nil
Bhubaneswar 26.2 (-5) 18.1 (0) Nil
Chandigarh 19.6 (-4) 6.0 (-3) Nil
Dehradun 20.2 (-2) 3.4 (-5) Nil
Panaji 29.4 (-2) 19.5 (-2) Nil
Guwahati 25.6 (0) 10.0 (+1) Nil
Hyderabad 28.9 (+2) 21.8 (+6) 22
Jaipur 22.3 (-4) 3.9 (-7) Nil
Lucknow 21.2 (-5) 5.5 (-5) Nil
Nagpur 28.5 (-3) 14.6 (0) Nil
Patna 22.0 (-4) 7.4 (-5) Nil
Pune 28.9 (-3) 11.4 (0) Nil
Srinagar 6.2 (-2) -5.0 (-5) Nil
Thiruvananthapuram 33.1 (+2) 24.9 (+3) Nil