The winter chill intensified across North Indian on Friday as temperature went to freezing point across several regions. In Jammu and Kashmir, fringes of Dal Lake and several other water bodies froze.
Mercury plunged further in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Check statewise updates here.
As per the weather forecast by India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cold wave would likely persist across Northern states in the coming days.
“Cold day conditions likely to prevail in isolated pockets over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh during next 2-3 days,” IMD’s forecast read.
For January 10 and 11, IMD predicted intense cold conditions across Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh. Rajasthan and Uttarakhand would face similar conditions between 11 and 14 January.
Delhi Cold Wave
The mercury dropped to 5 degrees Celsius in the national capital on Friday as cold weather persisted, with rain hitting parts of the city, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
A thick smog layer covered several areas, and air quality remained in the ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ category across Delhi, based on data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The IMD indicated that light rainfall is likely at several places in Delhi, including Preet Vihar, ITO, India Gate, Akshardham, Safdarjung, Lodi Road, Nehru Stadium, Vasant Vihar, RK Puram, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Vasant Kunj, Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar, Kalkaji, Mehrauli, Tughlakabad, Chhattarpur, IGNOU, Aya Nagar, and Deramandi.
Kashmir’s Night Temperatures Drop Below 0 Degrees
Parts of Dal Lake in Srinagar froze on Friday as the city experienced its coldest night of the winter, with temperatures plunging several degrees below freezing across the Kashmir valley, officials reported.
On Thursday night, Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, a drop from the previous night’s minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.
Officials confirmed that it was the coldest night of the season so far in the city, with the minimum temperature being 4.1 degrees below the season’s average.
Punjab Cold Wave
As per India Meteorological Department (IMD), Meteorological Centre, Chandigarh, Punjab’s average maximum temperature recorded a marginal rise of 0.1°C compared to the previous day. However, temperatures continued to remain markedly below normal by 5.5°C across the state.
The highest maximum temperature of 16.3°C was recorded at Thein Dam (AWS). Chandigarh city recorded a maximum of 16.1°C, while Amritsar remained cold at 10.4°C, Bathinda at 9.8°C, and Ludhiana at 12.0°C.
Haryana Cold Wave
In Haryana, the average maximum temperature rose by 0.3°C but remained significantly below normal by 3.8°C. Gurgaon (AWS) recorded the highest maximum temperature at 17.3°C. Chandigarh reported 16.1°C, Hisar registered 13.1°C, Karnal 12.4°C, Sirsa 12.0°C, and Ambala 11.6°C.
