By IANS,
New Delhi: With Leh in Jammu and Kashmir freezing at minus 23.6 degree Celsius and Keylong in Himachal Pradesh at minus 12.9 degrees Sunday, a cold wave saw people in many parts of northern India shivering their way through the first weekend of 2011.
The plains, including the national capital Delhi and its neighbouring cities in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh too went through a biting cold Sunday.
The weather office said cold wave conditions will stay for the coming few days since the night skies will be clear.
Leh in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir was the coldest at minus 23.6 degree while while it was minus 12.1 degrees in Pahalgam and minus 12.1 degrees in Gulmarg, the weatherman said. Srinagar shivered at minus 2.4 degrees.
“Those driving on the Srinagar-Jammu route need to be cautious as the highway is highly slippery,” said M.S. Wani of the meteorological department.
After remaining closed for two days due to heavy snow in its Bannihal sector, the Srinagar-Jammu highway was thrown open for one-way traffic Saturday and for two-way traffic on Sunday.
Very few locals ventured out of their homes in the morning in Srinagar as extreme chill gripped the city.
Reversing its own decision, the state administration last week closed down all the schools in the Kashmir Valley.
The hill towns of Himachal Pradesh shared the day’s sub-zero chillers, with Keylong in the Lahaul and Spiti district recording minus 12.9 degrees.
Most of the towns either stayed sub-zero or around below freezing point due to icy winds, the weather office in Shimla said.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district had a night low of minus 5.6 degrees; it was minus 0.3, 3.1 and minus 1.3 in Bhuntar in Kullu district, Dharamsala in Kangra district and Sundernagar in Mandi district, respectively, the met office ssaid.
Shimla recorded 1.7 degrees.
Delhi woke up to a biting cold Sunday morning with the minimum temperature at 7.8 degrees. The biting cold remained through the day as the northern winds kept the temperature down.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature was at 14.6 degree, six degrees below average.
The Met official added that the temperature will dip further in the coming days.
Monday morning will be misty with shallow fog, while the maximum and minimum temperatures have been pitched close to 16 and 6 degrees.
Morning fog again added to the winter woes in Punjab and Haryana Sunday. Most flights and trains were delayed in the morning, causing problems for weekend passengers.
“Overcast conditions prevailed in various parts of Punjab and Haryana,” said a met official in Chandigarh.
Amritsar recorded a minimum of 5.4 degrees Sunday morning. Patiala and Ludhiana recorded 8.2 degrees and 9 degrees respectively. It was 8.6 degrees in Chandigarh.
In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal cities recorded minimum of 7.3, 8.6 and 8.4 degrees respectively.
The vast plains of Uttar Pradesh went through a similar cold Sunday.
While the minimum temperature was 6 degrees in large parts of central Uttar Pradesh including Kanpur, a sharp fall of 6-8 degrees was registered in several places across the state.
In the state capital Lucknow, the minimum temperature stood at 8 degrees early Sunday morning while the maximum did not rise above 14.4 degrees, registering a fall of 9 degrees from the average.
The biting chill, particularly after sunset, saw people remaining indoors. Pavement dwellers were seen huddled up under trees or temporary shades. The local administration was, however, yet to rise to the occasion to organise bonfires or shelters that are usually put up in very cold weather conditions.
The lowest temperature was recorded in Jalaun (near Jhansi), where the mercury plummeted to 6 degrees and the day temperature too remained as low as 11.6 degrees.