Delhi shivers in winter chill, cold wave conditions to persist
Delhi is likely to record another severe cold day on Friday as frosty winds from snow-covered Western Himalayas continue to sweep the national capital. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city had recorded a severe cold day on Thursday as the maximum temperature dropped to 15.2 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal and the lowest this season so far.
On Friday, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius. The Palam weather station registered a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius.
A "cold day" is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is at least 4.4 degrees Celsius below normal. A "severe" cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.
"Cold wave" conditions are predicted in Delhi on Saturday and the cold spell is likely to continue till Monday, the 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 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, officials said.
Cold wave conditions prevailed in Rajasthan as well. The night temperature dipped to minus 1 degree Celsius in Mount Abu. Among plain areas in the desert state, Sikar was recorded as the coldest place at 0.5 degree Celsius.
Himachal Pradesh's Keylong, Manali and Kalpa recorded sub-zero temperatures in the last 24 hours. The weather remained dry in the hill state, but the minimum temperature decreased by one to two notches. Keylong, administrative centre of the tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti, continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 8 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature at famous tourist destination of Manali was recorded at minus 1.2 degrees Celsius. Dalhousie and Kufri recorded a low of 0.4 and 1.4 degrees Celsius, respectively. The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Solan at 21 degrees Celsius. Cold wave also swept Haryana and Punjab as fog reduced visibility at few places. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a minimum temperature of 5.1 degrees Celsius, MeT officials said.
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In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Bhiwani, Rohtak and Sirsa recorded below normal minimum temperatures of 4.4 degrees Celsius, 4.2 degrees Celsius, 4.9 degrees Celsius, 4.8 degrees Celsius, 4.4 degrees Celsius and 4.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. Amritsar in Punjab also experienced a cold night at 4.2 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana registered a low of 5.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the MeT department officials, fog reduced visibility in the morning at some places such as Karnal, Hisar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala. Very light rain occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, while Bareilly was the coldest place in the state at 3.3 degrees Celsius. The weather was mainly dry across the state. The highest temperature in the state was recorded at 24.6 degrees Celsius in Gorakhpur, the MeT department here said.
The weatherman has warned of cold wave to severe cold wave conditions at a few places in West UP and at isolated pockets in East UP.
