Kargil coldest in hills, Churu in plains

Kargil was the coldest place in the country today as harsh weather gripped Jammu and Kashmir amid a less-severe winter in other northern states, while cold wave conditions prevailed at places in Karnataka and rainfall occurred in some areas in Tamil Nadu.
The lowest minimum temperatureof4.1 degrees Celsius wasrecorded at Churu in Rajasthan in the plains of the country, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) report said.
The temperatures in Delhi remained above season's average with the mercury registering a minimum of 10.6 degrees Celsius, three up from the normal. The maximum temperature touched 25.2 degrees Celsius, four points above the normal, with the national capital witnessing a pleasant winter day.

In Jammu and Kashmir, currently under the grip of 'Chillai Kalan' (the 40-day period of harshest winter), Kargil remained the coldest, registering a minimum temperature of minus 15.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Srinagar went down by over three notches to settle at minus 2.1 degrees Celsius, weather officials said.
Cold conditions continued to prevail in Punjab and Haryana even as minimum temperatures hovered few notches above normal in most parts of the two states.

Adampur in Punjab's Jalandhar district was the coldest place as it shivered at 2.4 degree Celsius, while Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, registered a minimum temperature of 8.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

Lakhimpur Kheri, situated along the Nepal border, was recorded the coldest place in Uttar Pradesh with the mercury settling at a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius.
While moderate to dense fog occurred at isolated places in the state, there was no significant change in night or day temperatures.
Cold wave conditions prevailed at isolated places over north interior Karnataka, according to weather reports which said rainfall occurred at some places over Tamil Nadu.
Among other places in southern part of the country, dry weather prevailed over Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka and Lakshadweep.
An IMD report tonight said colddayconditionswere observed at isolated places over west Madhya Pradesh, while cold wave condition were witnessed at some places over Kutch.

The minimum temperatures were appreciably above normal (3.1to5.0 degrees Celsius)atmanyplacesover Assam, Meghalaya and a few areas in Gujarat, while it was above normal (1.6to3.0 degrees Celsius) at most places over Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh besides sub-Himalayan and Gangetic West Bengal.