New Delhi: Cold wave conditions persisted across north India on Saturday, with many places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh receiving rains, while the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh froze at sub-zero temperatures.
A thick blanket of fog covered the national capital on Saturday morning. The minimum temperature in the city was 8.4 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, and visibility was reduced to 50 m in the Palam area during the morning hours due to a dense fog.
The maximum temperature in the city settled two notches below the normal at 17.7 degrees Celsius, officials said.
A railway spokesperson said around 20 north-bound trains were delayed by two-five hours.
Chief of India Meteorological Department regional forecasting centre Kuldeep Srivastava said Delhi may receive light rain on January 21 due to a fresh western disturbance but temperatures are not expected to dip drastically in the next eight to 10 days.
In Himachal Pradesh, Shimla received light snowfall while some parts of the state received light rain.
Several tourist hotspots, including Manali, Kufri and Dalhousie, shivered at sub-zero temperatures, the MeT office said.
As per data recorded at 8.30 am on Saturday, Kinnaur's Kalpa received 24.4 cm snowfall in last 24 hours, Shimla Met Centre director Manmohan Singh said. Dalhousie received 4 mm rain, followed by Manali (2 mm) and Chamba (1 mm), he added.
Tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state with the minimum temperature settling at minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, he added.
Light to moderate rain and thundershower occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, the meteorological department said. It said dense to very dense fog occurred at a few places over eastern UP and at isolated places over its western parts.
Rainfall occurred at Puranpur, Nighasan, Baheri, Hapur, Nawabganj and Fatehpur, the Met department said.
The cold wave conditions persisted in the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, with the two neighbours witnessing sub-zero minimum temperatures that led to frost formation on roads and caused inconvenience to motorists, the meteorological department said.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg was the coldest place in Kashmir with a minimum temperature of minus 11 degrees Celsius, it said.
The Kashmir Valley and the Union Territory of Ladakh reeled under sub-zero night temperatures after the recent snowfall, a MeT official said.
In Ladakh, Leh recorded a low of minus 13 degrees Celsius and the nearby Drass registered a minimum temperature of minus 24.1 degrees Celsius.
Cold weather conditions continued to persist in most parts of Punjab and Haryana where a thick blanket of fog reduced visibility in the morning at a few places.
In Punjab, Amritsar was the coldest place recording a bone-chilling minimum of 3.6 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Hisar (4.1 deg C), Ambala (6.9 deg C), Karnal (8.6 deg C), Narnaul (6.5 deg C), Rohtak (6.8 deg C), Bhiwani (6.2 deg C) and Sirsa (4.8 deg C) registered below normal minimum temperatures.
Chandigarh registered a night temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius, which was above normal range.
The official said a thick blanket of fog reduced visibility in the morning at Hisar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Amritsar, Halwara, Bathinda, Faridkot and Gurdaspur across both states.
In Rajasthan, cold weather conditions continued with Ganganagar being the coldest place in the state at 3.7 degrees Celsius.
Churu shivered at 3.9 degrees Celsius while Pilani, Sikar, Bikaner and Jaipur recorded night temperatures of 5.4, 6, 6.2 and 9.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.
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