Cold wave continues in north India

New Delhi: Cold weather continued to grip parts of north India on Sunday and a blanket of fog enveloped several areas of the region affecting road and rail traffic.
Delhiites experienced a cold yet pleasant New Year as the day began with a sunny morning and got chilly by the evening with the minimum temperature settling at 9.2 degrees Celsius.
According to a MeT department official, the maximum temperature settled at 21 degrees Celsius. Humidity level was recorded at 100 per cent, the weatherman said.
Kashmir continued to witness dry weather and sub-zero night temperature, even as there was some respite from the cold wave conditions in state's Ladakh region where the mercury went up by several degrees.
The night temperature in Leh settled at a low of minus 7 degrees Celsius, an official of the Meteorological Department here said. He said Srinagar recorded a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius.
In Himachal Pradesh, mild snowfall greeted high altitude tribal areas, mountain passes and key tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda, even as a "White New year" eluded Shimla, the queen of hills.
The high altitude tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmaur and Rohtang, Kunzam, Saach and Chansel passes received mild snowfall, causing sharp fall in day temperatures. Intense cold conditions gripped most parts of the state and strong velocity icy winds lashed Shimla and surrounding areas and minimum temperature dropped to 4.6 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature dropped by 1.5 degree to stay at 14.1 degrees Celsius.
Keylong and Kalpa in tribal Lahaul and Spiti recorded minimum temperatures at minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, and minus 1.4 degree Celsius. Fog reduced visibility at many places in Punjab and Haryana where the minimum temperature continued to hover a few notches above normal. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a further increase in its minimum since Saturday to settle at 9.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT Department report said here.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 10.1 degrees Celsius. Karnal recorded a minimum of 8.5 degrees Celsius. Amritsar in Punjab recorded a further increase in its minimum temperature since Saturday to settle at 8.8 degrees Celsius. Cold weather conditions continued to prevail in Rajasthan while dense fog engulfed most of the places in the region affecting rail and road traffic. According to the MeT department spokesperson, minimum temperature recorded till 8:30am in Alwar was 6.8 degrees Celsius.