Freezing temperatures in Rajasthan as winter chill grips north India cold wave hits Delhi

     New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) The intense cold sweeping through north India tightened its grip further on Sunday, with parts of Rajasthan experiencing sub-zero temperatures and the mercury dropping to below 3 degrees Celsius in some places in Delhi for the first time this season.
     The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the spell of extreme cold is likely to continue for the next few days, with severe cold wave conditions expected in isolated parts of northern India.
     Some places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand also recorded temperatures below zero degrees Celsius and the mercury hovered close to the freezing point in Punjab and Haryana.
     Cold to severe cold wave conditions were recorded at isolated places in parts of Rajasthan. The minimum temperature in Pratapgarh was at minus 2 degrees Celsius, while Barmer recorded a low of minus 1 degree Celsius, the local met office said.
     Isolated places in eastern Rajasthan saw dense to very dense fog, while a few places in the western part of the state saw dense fog, it said.
     Pilani 1.2 degrees Celsius, Sikar 1.7 degrees Celsius, Lunkaransar in Bikaner and Jhunjhunu 1.9 degrees Celsius and Churu 2 degrees Celsius, the weather department said.
     The mercury remained below 10 degrees Celsius at most other places in the state. Jaipur recorded a low of 9.2 degrees Celsius.
     Delhi experienced its first cold wave of the season, with temperatures falling below 3.0 degrees Celsius in some places. Ayanagar was the coldest place in the city, with a low of 2.9 degrees Celsius, while Palam station recorded its lowest minimum temperature in 13 years at 3.0 degrees Celsius.
     The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's principal weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius, 2.6 notches below the seasonal average, while the maximum temperature settled at 18.8 degrees Celsius, 1.1 notches below normal, IMD data showed.
     Similar conditions are likely to prevail over the next two days, and a yellow alert has been issued in this regard, they added.
     The capital's air quality was in 'poor', with the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) logged at 291, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
     In neighbouring Noida, all schools up to Class 8 have been ordered to remain closed till January 15 in view of dense fog and severe cold conditions.
     Kashmir continued to be in the grip of the 'Chilla-i-Kalan', 40 days of extreme cold, with Srinagar at minus 5.2 degrees Celsius.
     Shopian was the coldest place across the Valley, as the minimum settled at minus 8.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, registered a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius.
     The night temperature in the popular ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district settled at a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, up from the previous night's minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, they said.
     Several parts of Punjab and Haryana reeled under intense cold conditions. Bathinda was the coldest place in Punjab, recording a minimum temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius, while Hisar, at a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, was the coldest place in Haryana, according to the weather office.
     Fog reduced visibility in the morning at some places in Punjab and Haryana.
     In Punjab, Faridkot reeled under severe chill at a minimum of 2.9 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Gurdaspur registered respective minimums of 4.6 degrees, 3.8 degrees, 3.2 degrees and 3.8 degrees Celsius.
     Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also experienced a cold night at 5 degrees Celsius.
     In Haryana, biting cold swept Narnaul, which recorded a low of 3 degrees Celsius.
     Ambala, Faridabad and Rohtak also reeled under piercing chill at respective minimums of 5.5 degrees, 4.2 degrees and 4 degrees Celsius.
     Cold wave conditions were observed in parts of Jharkhand, as the mercury dropped below 10 degrees Celsius in eight districts of the state.
     Gumla recorded the lowest temperature in the state at 2.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Palmau (Daltonganj) at 4.9 degrees Celsius and Khunti at 5.6 degrees Celsius, the IMD bulletin said.
     The IMD on Sunday issued a ‘yellow’ alert for cold wave conditions in parts of Jharkhand from January 13 to 16.
     Schools in Jharkhand's Ranchi district will remain closed for students up to class six till January 14 in view of the cold wave conditions, an official said. Classes from 7 to 12 will start from 10 am during the period.
     The IMD has predicted in its daily bulletin released on Sunday that cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to continue over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 12-13.
     Dense fog conditions are very likely to continue during morning hours over northwest India and Bihar during the next five days. A man and his daughter were killed, and four others were injured when their SUV hit a container truck from behind amid dense fog and then collided with a car on the Bakhtiyarpur-Mokama highway in Patna.
     Cold day conditions are likely to prevail in isolated parts of Bihar till January 16, IMD said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)