Cold wave prevails in north India, temps drop in Kashmir

Cold wave conditions persisted today in most parts of north India with the mercury further dropping in Kashmir and high-altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh recording sub-zero temperatures.
Normal life remained hit in Jammu and Kashmir's Kargil as the minimum there settled at minus 19.6 degrees Celsius with cold wave tightening its grip on the Valley and the Ladakh region of the state.
Srinagar - the state's summer capital - recorded minus 4.3 degrees Celsius as minimum temperatures dropped across Kashmir, except in the ski-resort of Gulmarg, Meteorological (MeT) department officials said.
Qazigund, in south Kashmir, recorded minus 4 degrees Celsius, Kokernag minus 2.2 degrees Celsius and Kupwara, in north Kashmir, minus 4 degrees Celsius.

The mercury at Gulmarg settled at minus 5.5 degrees Celsius, an increase of over three degrees from yesterday's minus 8.6, they said.
Leh was the second coldest place in the state at minus 13.5 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of Chillai-Kalan, a 40-day period of harshest winter when the chances of snowfall are maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
High-altitude areas in Himachal Pradesh reeled under biting cold wave conditions as minimum temperatures hovered between minus 12 and minus 18 degrees Celsius.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recorded a low of minus 7.4 degrees Celsius while Kalpa and Bhuntar registered zero degrees Celsius, the MeT office in Shimla said.

The MeT has predicted rains, thundershowers or snow in lower, mid and higher hills on Tuesday and dry weather in the region over the next six days.
Chilly conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana with Admapur being the coldest in the region at 2.1 degrees Celsius.
The joint capital of the state, Chandigarh, recorded 6.9 degrees Celsius, one degree above the normal, a MeT official said.
Narnaul, Bhiwani and Rohtak in Haryana shivered at 5, 5.8 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively, and the mercury in the holy city of Amritsar in Punjab settled at 4.6 degrees Celsius.
In Uttar Pradesh, Najibabad and Muzaffarnagar recorded a low of 5.8 degrees Celsius while fog engulfed isolated places in eastern and western parts of the state.

The MeT office in Lucknow has forecast shallow to moderate fog at isolated places and rain or thundershowers at some places in east Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
Rajasthan's hill station Mount Abu was the coldest place in the state, recording a minimum temperature of 3.4 degrees Celsius.
Churu recorded 3.8 degrees Celsius, the MeT department in Jaipur said.
Pilani, Sikar, Bhilwara and Jaisalmer recorded 5.6 degrees Celsius, 6 degrees Celsius, 6.5 degrees Celsius and 7.4 degrees Celsius respectively, it said.