Cold conditions prevail in north India; fresh snow, rain likely in HP, J-K

Cold conditions persisted in most parts of North India but Himachal Pradesh got a slight respite, even as the meteorological department predicted rains and snow in the hill state and Jammu and Kashmir this week.

The weatherman has also said that cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated parts of north Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in central India till Wednesday and over Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha till February 11.

The national capital witnessed a cold morning with the mercury settling at 6 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal for this time of the year. The day temperature was 21.9 degrees Celsius, a notch less than the season's average.

The minimum temperature in Delhi is expected to enter double digits in the next two to three days, the weatherman said.

The overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was recorded in the "very poor" quality (309). An AQI between 201-300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'.

Delhi's neighbouring Punjab and Haryana continued to shiver under cold weather conditions with Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 6.8 degrees Celsius.

Adampur in Punjab reeled under intense cold with a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius, four degrees below the normal. Amritsar, Halwara, Bathinda and Faridkot also experienced cold night with their respective lows settling at 3, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.6 degrees Celsius, a meteorological department official said.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the state recording a four-notch below the normal minimum at 3.5 degrees Celsius.

Karnal (4.4), Hisar (4.6), Sirsa (5.6), Rohtak (5.8), Ambala (6.6), and Bhiwani (7) also experienced a cold night.

Cold conditions continued to prevail in parts of Rajasthan with Dabok being the coldest place in the state at 5.6 degrees Celsius.

Churu recorded 6.5 degrees Celsius followed by Sriganganagar 6.6 degrees Celsius, Ajmer and Kota both 7.6 degrees Celsius, Jaipur 8 degrees Celsius and Jodhpur at 9.2 degrees Celsius.

With 27.9 degrees Celsius, Barmer recorded the highest day temperature.

The maximum temperature in most of the cities hovered between 23.4 and 27.9 degrees Celsius.

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh got a slight respite from biting cold as the minimum temperature increased by a few notches. However, Manali, Keylong and Kalpa continued to shiver at sub-zero temperatures, the weather office said.

Tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong remained the coldest place in the state at minus 12.8 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

In the costal state of Odisha, cold wave conditions returned after a brief spell of rain with the weatherman forecasting similar weather to prevail in the next two days.

Mercury levels dipped in several areas of Odisha and are likely to go down further by 2 to 5 degrees Celsius in the next 3-4 days, the weatherman said.

At 9 degrees Celsius, Angul recorded the lowest minimum temperature in the plains of the state while Malkangiri was the hottest at 30 degrees Celsius, he said.