North India gears up for severe cold wave in coming four days

The prevailing cold wave in north India dropped minimum temperature in the national capital to six degrees Celsius — two degrees below the season’s average — while the maximum temperature hovered around 20 degrees Celsius with foggy conditions.

Haryana, Punjab, parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat will experience cold wave to severe cold wave conditions over the week, says the weather department. The minimum temperature in north and central India is likely to drop by 2-3 degrees Celsius in the next 3-4 days.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said the Western Himalayas recorded widespread snowfall due to strong western disturbances and now frosty winds have been blowing towards the plains, bringing the mercury down.

He said both “cold wave” and “cold day” conditions are likely in Delhi in the next 3-4 days.

The cold wave conditions have hit Rajasthan really bad. Jaipur recorded 4.9 degrees Celsius on Friday night (December 17). In Fatehpur (Sikar), the night temperature dropped to -3.3 degrees Celsius while in Churu it was -1.1 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a cold wave warning for several areas of north Rajasthan. The minimum temperature in Nagaur, Sangaria, Sikar, Bhilwara, Ganganagar and Pilani was either below 1 degree Celsius or slightly above 1.

In the Kashmir valley, the minimum temperature remained below 0. Water supply got disrupted in Srinagar as water froze. On Friday night, Srinagar’s minimum temperature was – six degrees while a day before it was – 3.8 degrees Celsius. Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius. At Pahalgam, the minimum temperature hovered around minus 8 degrees Celsius while in Kupwara it was – 6.1 degrees Celsius.

The IMD forecast snowfall in most areas of the Kashmir valley around Christmas.

In Uttarakhand, the lowest temperature on Friday (December 17) was recorded in Ranichauri (-2.7°C), Mukteshwar (0.2°C), Mussoorie (0.9°C), Pithoragarh (0.9°C), and New Tehri (1.4°C).

In Maharashtra too, the minimum temperature is likely to fall by two to three degrees Celsius over the next week.

As per the IMD report, dense to very dense fog is expected over Punjab and Haryana on Friday and Saturday and over northwest Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Friday. “Ground frost conditions in the morning hours in isolated pockets very likely over Saurashtra and Kutch, Punjab and Haryana during the next four days,” the IMD said.

(With inputs from agencies)