Chandigarh/Shimla, There was no respite from bone-chilling cold conditions and dense fog in most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Monday with Amritsar freezing at zero degrees, while, Shimla and the areas close to it were warmer.
Amritsar registered the coldest night of the season so far as minimum temperature plummeted three degrees below normal level, MeT officials here said.
Shimla, located around 7,000 feet above sea level, recorded a low of 3.1 degrees Celsius while Chandigarh, located in the foothills, experienced similar temperature.
Freezing chill also swept Narnaul in Haryana, which recorded a low of 1.5 degree Celsius, down four notches.
Karnal (2.6) was also colder than Shimla. Hisar’s night temperature, too, was similar to Shimla’s 3.1 degrees.
Piercing cold also swept Patiala, which recorded a low of 3.4 degree Celsius, four notches below normal while there was no relief from the biting chill for Ludhiana residents also as the Punjab’s industrial town registered three notches below normal minimum of 4.1 degrees.
Chandigarh, too, continued to be under the grip of cold wave conditions, recording a low of 3 degrees, down three notches than normal.
While the minimum temperatures have dipped few notches below normal for the past many days, severe chill during the day time as well has made the ongoing cold wave spell unbearable for people, with maximum temperatures settling in the range of 11-17 degree Celsius at most places in the states.
At most places in the two states and Chandigarh, people packed themselves in heavy woolens and many could be seen sipping on hot beverages to keep themselves warm.
Fog continued to disrupt normal life at many places in Punjab and Haryana on Monday.
What the MET department says:
According to the MET here, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala were among other places in the two states which remained engulfed in fog early today.
During the past ten days, foggy weather has adversely affected normal movement of road, rail and air traffic in the region.
Manmohan Singh, director of Shimla’s meteorological department said: “Most of the hill stations are experiencing pleasant weather owing to more sunshine compared with the plains, which has been enduring long, foggy days.”
The weather in Himachal’s popular destinations like Kasauli, Chail, Kufri, Dharamsala and Manali is also sunny.
Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 14.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 4.1 degrees above normal.
But in the plains, the met official said, the day temperatures were 2-8 degrees below the season’s average.
He said dry weather conditions would continue in Himachal Pradesh till Janaury 3 when the western disturbances – storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region – would be active in the region.
Source: TNS