Cold wave tightened its grip over the Kashmir Valley and the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh even as the mercury continued to hover above normal levels in large swathes of north India today.
It was a sunny day in the national capital with the day temperature settling at 27.8 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average.
The minimum temperature was recorded four notches above normal at 13 degrees Celsius, according to the MeT department. The humidity in air oscillated between 76 and 31 per cent.
Meanwhile, cold wave further tightened its grip in the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region with the minimum temperatures remaining several degrees below the freezing point.
Srinagar and Leh witnessed the coldest night of the season so far. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest so far this season.
Minimum temperature in Srinagar continued to dip as the city had witnessed the low of minus 1.8 and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius last night and the night before, respectively.
The famous tourist resort of Pahalgam, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 4.0 degrees, while famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north, registered a low of 2.4 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in Qazigund - the gateway town to the Kashmir Valley - settled at a low of minus 2.4 degrees, while nearby Kokernag town registered a minimum of minus 1.8 degrees.
The night temperature in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, registered a low of minus 2.0 degrees Celsius.
Leh also witnessed the season's coldest night as the minimum there settled at a low of minus 12.6 degrees Celsius, while the mercury in the nearby Kargil town stood at a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius.
The high altitude tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh too reeled under intense cold wave conditions.
In state capital Shimla, the minimum temperature stood at 7.6 degrees Celsius and the maximum was recorded at 18.6 degrees.
