New Delhi: Piercing cold wave conditions continued to sweep North India as temperature plummeted in several places including Agra in Uttar Pradesh which recorded its lowest minimum of the season at 0.1 degree Celsius.
The Taj city recorded the lowest minimum temperature in Uttar Pradesh at 0.1 degree Celsius, which was markedly below normal. The minimum temperature at Agra yesterday was recorded at 4.7 degree Celsius.
In contrast, Delhi witnessed a clear and sunny day with a hint of chill as minimum temperature settled at 5.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.
The national capital woke up to shallow and moderate mist but as the day progressed, the fog cleared giving way to a bright sunny day. The maximum temperature was recorded at 19.8 degrees Celsius, one notch below the normal.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh continued to face extreme cold conditions as mercury fell sharply in tribal areas with Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti witnessing the coldest night of the season.
The minimum temperature at Keylong dipped to minus 12.4 degrees Celsius while the high altitude tribal areas reeled under severe cold wave conditions with mercury staying between minus 15 and minus 28 degree C.
Higher up, the cold wave following Tuesday`s snowfall across Kashmir Valley resulted in the mercury dipping by several degrees but there was slight respite from the intense cold conditions in most parts last night.
The Srinagar-Jammu national highway connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country was opened for one-way traffic, three days after heavy snowfall forced its closure.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, as against the previous night`s minus 2.1 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET Department said here.
Kargil recorded the season`s coldest night so far as mercury plunged over eight degrees from the previous night`s minus 11.6 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 19.8 degrees Celsius last night, the official said.
In Rajasthan, another person was found dead in Jaipur taking the death toll due to cold in the state to three even as the biting winter chill continued unabated.
The man, aged between 50-60 years, was found dead yesterday on the pavement outside a mosque in Jaipur.
Churu remained the coldest place in the desert state where the mercury stood below freezing point at minus 2.7 degree C last night, whereas Pilani and Bikaner recorded a minimum of 1.8 and 1.9 degree C respectively last night.
A fresh western disturbance, however, gave some respite to the people of Rajasthan from icy winds.
Punjab and Haryana reeled under extreme chill even as a thick blanket of fog threw normal life out of gear this morning at many places in the region.
Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.5 deg C, down four notches, while Adampur in Punjab was also very cold registering a low of zero degrees.
Freezing cold swept Amritsar, which recorded a below normal low of 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh`s minimum dropped slightly since yesterday to settle at 4.5 deg C, down three degrees.
Also in Uttar Pradesh, a report from the Met office said temperature appreciably fell in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, while a decline was also registered in Bareilly, Moradabad, Jhansi last night.
The winter tourist season in Himachal Pradesh which used to last for 15 to 20 days ended abruptly after the New Year and the occupancy of the hotels came down to 50 per cent.
Christmas and New Year were on weekdays and snowfall eluded the state capital on both occasions and the tourists who had come here to enjoy the snow were left disappointed.
