Freeze: Temperature dips to sub-zero levels across Kashmir
North India shivers as cold wave sweeps many regions
Srinagar: Night temperatures in the Kashmir Valley dipped below the freezing point owing to a clear sky, with the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg shivering at minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, Meteorological department officials said here on Tuesday.
All weather stations in the Valley recorded sub-zero night temperatures several degrees below the normal for this part of the season, the officials said.
They said the temperature in Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, which is six degrees below the normal for this time of the season.
The resort was the coldest recorded place in the UT, the Met officials said.
Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius, and Srinagar the summer capital of the union territory recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, they said.
Qazigund the gateway town to the valley recorded a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in the north, registered a low of minus 2.3 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, in the south, minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, the officials said.
The Met Office has said the weather is likely to remain mainly dry till December 21 with the possibility of a further decrease in night temperatures.
Notably, the IMD had warned of a drop in temperature across north India.
Meanwhile, a cold wave gripped Delhi on Tuesday as icy winds blowing from the snow-covered western Himalayas brought the minimum temperature down to 4.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the city this season so far, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
For the plains, the IMD declares a cold wave when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 notches less than the normal for two consecutive days.
“However, for small areas such as Delhi, a cold wave can be declared if the criteria is fulfilled even for a day,” Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said.
At 4.1 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature at Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, was five notches below normal on Tuesday morning.
Interestingly, the temperatures hovered below normal limits in Haryana and Punjab, with Hisar reeling under biting cold at 3 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Hisar’s minimum settled six notches below normal while Karnal, too, experienced a cold night at 6 degrees Celsius, down two against normal, according to the Meteorological (MeT) Department here.
Narnaul also braved a cold night at 5.4 degrees Celsius, down one notch, while severe cold gripped the town during the day with the maximum temperature settling at 13.2 degrees Celsius, down 10 notches against normal.
Karnal, too, experienced severe chill during the day with the maximum temperature settling at 15.8 degrees Celsius, down six notches against normal.
Ambala’s minimum settled at 8.3 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, however, recorded a low of 9.6 degrees Celsius, up three notches against normal limits while the day temperature in the city settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius.
Amritsar in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of 8.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, but the day temperature plummeted to 14.6 degrees Celsius, seven below normal.
Ludhiana recorded a low of 9.4 degrees Celsius, up three notches while Patiala’s minimum settled at 9.1 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal limits. (PTI)
