Monday, 06 January 2025
Monday, 06 January 2025
As the winter sweeps across India, temperatures have plunged to bone-chilling lows, with fog blanketing northern regions and snowfall anticipated in Kashmir.
The biting chill has disrupted daily life, leaving residents to brace for more freezing days.
Jharkhand:
Jharkhand continued to reel under cold wave conditions on Saturday with the mercury falling below 6 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
Dry weather prevailed over the state during the last 24 hours with the lowest minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius recorded in Khunti, it said.
"Below normal departures at few places were seen during last 24 hours, besides above normal and appreciably below normal at isolated places over Jharkhand," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The IMD predicted a shallow to moderate fog in the morning on Sunday and a partly cloudy sky later. On January 6 and 7 fog will be visible in the morning with a partly cloudy sky later.
Odisha:
Cold wave conditions gripped parts of Odisha on Saturday with the mercury dropping to 4.6 degrees Celsius in G Udaygiri in Kandhamal district, the IMD said.
Ten places in the state recorded temperatures below 10 degrees C in the last 24 hours, it said.
State capital Bhubaneswar recorded the season's lowest temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius, 2.3 notches below the normal.
The IMD said no large change in the minimum temperature is expected in the next two days, and thereafter, it might rise by 2-3 degrees Celsius.
Rajasthan:
Rajasthan’s desert state remained cold, with Tonk’s Vanasthali recording 6.4°C. Dense fog engulfed several areas, with light rains predicted in the Bikaner division.
Dense to very dense fog was also recorded at some places in the state, according to the IMD.
Pilani in Jhunjhunu recorded 6.5 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature was 6.7 degrees Celsius in Dausa, 7 degrees Celsius in Alwar, 7.2 degrees Celsius in Chittorgarh, 7.4 degrees Celsius in Sangaria (Hanumangarh), 7.7 degrees Celsius in Nagaur and 8 degrees Celsius in Jaipur.
The weather conditions are expected to remain the same for the next 24 hours, the MeT department said. Light rains are expected at some places in the Bikaner division during this period, it added.
Punjab and Haryana:
A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday morning and visibility in several places in the states, including Amritsar, Ludhiana and Ambala, dropped to zero, the MeT department said.
Large parts of the two states have been experiencing thick fog for the past few days and on Saturday, visibility dropped to zero at many places including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal, while Chandigarh was also blanketed by heavy fog in the morning hours.
Meanwhile, biting cold weather conditions prevailed in most parts.
In Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest place, recording a minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius.
Ludhiana and Mohali recorded respective minimums of 8.4 degrees and 8.6 degrees. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 7.8 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir:
Kashmir braced for heavy snow as a western disturbance loomed. Srinagar recorded a low of -1.6°C, while Gulmarg and Pahalgam stayed below -2°C. Under 'Chillai-Kalan,' Kashmir's harshest winter phase, authorities warned of travel disruptions due to snow and fog.
The Met office said a moderate to strong western disturbance was likely to affect Jammu and Kashmir and light to moderate snow at most places was possible, with the peak activity from Saturday night to Monday morning.
There is a possibility of heavy snow over the middle and the higher reaches of Kashmir and the Chenab valley from Saturday night to Sunday late night or Monday morning.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had on Friday said the government was ready to deal with the snowfall.
"We will deal with it. We are prepared, we have had several meetings and we also have experience after the last snowfall. If there were any lacunae last time, we will correct that this time," he had told reporters.
