Most part of northern India may have to reel under intense cold for some more time, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting cold wave conditions in several parts of India, including Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi till January 10.
Delhi witnessed cold day conditions for the second time this month, while several parts of India were placed under yellow and orange alerts.
The weather panel forecast dense to very dense fog during morning hours over Punjab and Haryana-Chandigarh from January 8 to 10, with dense fog expected in isolated pockets till January 14.
Delhi’s temperature likely to fall to 7°C
Today, the sky is likely to remain clear with moderate fog at many places in the morning hours in Delhi. As per IMD, the maximum temperature is expected to remain between 15-17 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature will fall between 7-9 degrees Celsius.
Delhi on Wednesday recorded cold day conditions, the second time in a row, as the day temperature was recorded at 16.7 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees below the seasonal average, news agency PTI reported.
Cold day conditions are declared when the maximum temperature falls 4.5 degrees Celsius to 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal.
Delhi recorded its first cold day of the year on Tuesday, as the maximum temperature stood at 15.7 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees below normal.
Orange alert in Punjab, winter holidays extended
An orange alert was issued in some areas of Punjab, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Kapurthala. A yellow alert was issued in other areas for January 8.
The Punjab government also extended the winter holidays in all schools till January 13 in view of the cold weather conditions.
In the neighbouring Haryana, a mix of yellow and orange alerts was issued. An orange alert has been sounded in Karnal, Ambala, Panipat and Sonipat.
A day earlier, several districts in Rajasthan had announced to similarly prolong the winter breaks, and authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district ordered the closure of all schools up to class 8 till January 10.
Fresh snowfall in Himachal
Fresh snowfall was recorded in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu, which delighted tourists, who had flocked to the picturesque place. A yellow alert was issued in Kangra, Bilaspur, Solana and Chamba for cold wave conditions.
IMD said that a cold wave is likely to prevail in isolated areas of the state.
Traffic disrupted in J&K’s Poonch
Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch received heavy snowfall, after which traffic operations were disrupted. Snow clearance operations were reportedly underway on the Mughal Road in Poonch district, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, traffic has remained suspended on the Shopian-Poonch axis since December 31, including the Poonch-Kashmir route via Shopian, due to continuous snowfall and unsafe road conditions.