Cold wave conditions prevail in northern region; Kashmir, HP record sub-zero temperatures

Cold wave conditions persisted in the northern region on Thursday, with Kashmir and major tourist hotspots of Himachal Pradesh -- Manali, Kufri and Dalhousie -- recording sub-zero temperatures.

It was a clear morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature settling three notches below the season's normal at 6.7 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature settled at 20.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), dense fog is likely at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana on Friday.

Kashmir continued to reel under sub-zero temperatures on Thursday, with Gulmarg being recorded as the coldest place in the valley at minus 9.0 degrees Celsius.

Mercury in Pahalgam, the south Kashmir resort that serves as the base camp for annual Amaranth Yatra, dropped to minus 7.4 degrees Celsius from 9.3 degrees Celsius a night earlier, a MeT Department official said.

Chillai Kalan, the 40-day harshest period of winter in Kashmir, ended on January 30 but the cold wave conditions are expected to persist for the next few days.

In Himachal Pradesh, tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong was recorded as the coldest place in the state at minus 12.6 degrees Celsius, Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said on Thursday.

Kalpa recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, Kufri minus 1.2 degrees Celsius and Dalhousie minus 0.2 degrees Celsius, he said.

The weather office has forecast rains and snowfall in the high hills of the state on February 11 and 12.

Icy winds swept most parts of Punjab and Haryana, with Adampur recording a minimum temperature of 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Among other places in Punjab, Amritsar reeled at a low of 2.3 degrees Celsius followed by Halwara, which registered a low of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

There was no respite from the cold at other places, including Bathinda (4 degrees Celsius), Faridkot (4 degrees Celsius), Gurdaspur (5.1 degrees Celsius), Ludhiana (5.6 degrees Celsius), Pathankot (5.4 degrees Celsius) and Patiala (6 degrees Celsius).

In Haryana, Karnal and Narnaul shivered recording identical below normal minimum temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius each.

Similar conditions prevailed in Rajasthan too, with Sikar registering a low of 3 degrees Celsius.

It was followed by Churu with a night temperature of 3.7 degrees Celsius.

Pilani, Alwar, Ganganagar, Bikaner, Vanasthali and Chittorgarh recorded lows of 5.5, 5.6, 6.3, 7.4, 7.9 and 8.5 degrees Celsius, respectively while Sawai Madhopur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Barmer and Jaipur recorded minimum temperatures of 9.2, 9.4, 9.8, 10 and 10.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The weather was mostly dry in Uttar Pradesh with Muzaffarnagar being the coldest place at 4.5 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in state capital Lucknow was 7.8 degrees Celsius , while the maximum was recorded at 23.5 degrees Celsius.