Yellow Alert in U'khand, Orange in Rajasthan, Delhi's Lowest Temp: Cold Wave Sweeps North India

The mercury further plummeted several degrees on Saturday as North India shivered amid a cold wave. Delhi on Saturday recorded a minimum temperature of six degrees Celsius, the lowest this season so far, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 20 degrees Celsius and shallow fog has been predicted during the day, it said. The minimum temperature was two notches below the season’s average, the IMD said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday said, “The day temperature over Northwest India appreciably to markedly below normal. So, there’s added adverse impact of below normal day temperature to prevailing cold wave conditions here. Day temperature expected to continue in below normal category up to December 21.”

Earlier, on Thursday, the IMD had said forecast cold wave to severe cold wave conditions over Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, parts of Gujarat and north Rajasthan over the next five days. It had predicted the mercury to drop by two to four degrees Celsius in most parts of northwest India, adjoining central India and Gujarat over the next four to five days.

Cold winds from the country’s northern parts swept Rajasthan as minimum temperatures in Fatehpur and Churu dropped below the freezing point, a meteorological department official said on Saturday. Temperatures on Friday night dropped by one degree Celsius across the state, the official said and added that the department has issued a cold wave warning for many parts of Rajasthan.

The minimum temperature was recorded at minus 3.3 degrees Celsius in Fatehpur in Sikar and in neighbouring Churu it was minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological (MeT) department. Nagaur recorded a minimum night temperature of 0.3 degrees Celsius, Sangaria and Sikar each recorded 0.7 degrees Celsius, Bhilwara 1 degree Celsius, Ganganagar 1.1 degrees Celsius, Pilani 1.9 degrees Celsius and Chittorgarh 2.7 degrees Celsius. The MeT department said the minimum in most of the districts of the state has dipped below five degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature was recorded between 13.5 degrees Celsius to 24.2 degrees Celsius on Friday. State capital Jaipur recorded a minimum temperature of 4.9 degrees Celsius on Friday night.

The department has issued an ‘Orange alert’ for severe cold wave conditions in many areas of the state in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a yellow alert has been issued in Uttarakhand from December 18 to 21. According to the IMD, the lowest temperature in the state on Friday was recorded in Ranichauri (-2.7°C), Mukteshwar (0.2°C), Mussoorie (0.9°C), Pithoragarh (0.9°C), and New Tehri (1.4°C).

Srinagar and most other parts of Kashmir experienced the coldest night of the season so far as the mercury plummeted several degrees below zero across the valley, resulting in freezing of water supply lines as well as the fringes of several water bodies, officials said on Saturday. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius on Friday night down by 2.2 degrees from the previous night’s minus 3.8 degrees Celsius.

This was the coldest night of the season so far in the city and the minimum was 4.5 degrees below the normal for this part of the season, they said. Gulmarg resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius. The resort was the coldest recorded place in the valley.

Officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 8.3 degrees Celsius. The mercury in Kupwara in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 6.1 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag also recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

The coldwave conditions led to freezing of water supply lines in many areas of the valley as well as the fringes of several water bodies, they said. The weatherman has forecast colder nights over the next couple of days as further fall in the minimum temperature is expected.

There is also a possibility of a white Christmas as widespread moderate to heavy snowfall is most likely to occur from December 23-25.

Cold Wave in Madhya Pradesh

Parts of Madhya Pradesh including Bhopal experienced a cold wave on Saturday due to chilly winds coming from the North. The lowest minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius was recorded in the state in the districts of Gwalior, Datia and in Nowgaon area of Chhatarpur district, said PK Saha, a senior meteorologist at IMD Bhopal office.

The wave, the result of winds coming from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand which have witnessed snowfall, was likely to grip isolated places in 14 districts including Sagar and Gwalior over the next three days, he said. Temperatures dropped in isolated pockets of Seoni, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Datia and Gwalior districts during Friday night, Saha said. Besides Bhopal, Seoni, Dhar and Ratlam districts experienced a “severe cold day” while Guna, Rajgarh and the tourist hotspot Khajuraho had a “cold day” on Saturday, he said.

On Thursday, the IMD had said that the minimum temperature in most parts of east India and Maharashtra may also drop by two to three degrees Celsius over the next four days. “Cold wave/severe cold wave conditions over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Saurashtra and Kutch during December 17 to December 21; over north Rajasthan during December 18 to December 21; over West Uttar Pradesh during December 19 to December 21 and over Gujarat region on December 19 and 20,” the IMD said in a statement.

Dense to very dense fog is predicted in the morning hours in isolated pockets over Punjab and Haryana on Friday and Saturday and over northwest Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Friday. “Ground frost conditions in the morning hours in isolated pockets very likely over Saurashtra and Kutch, Punjab and Haryana during the next four days,” the IMD said.

(With agency inputs)

Read all the Latest India News here