NEW DELHI & CHANDIGARH : Northern states reeled under a piercing cold wave on Thursday with the national capital and a few places in Jammu and Kashmir recording the lowest temperature for January in three years and mercury dipping below the freezing point at many areas in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Rail services were hit by poor visibility in the morning. Twenty-six trains were delayed, eight rescheduled and seven cancelled due to foggy weather. Air traffic, however, continued uninterrupted. Icy winds swept the national capital that recorded a low of 3.40C.
“Today’s minimum of 3.4 0C is the lowest for January in the last three years and it is also the season’s lowest,” Ravinder Bhishen, Director of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said. Authorities in Gautam Budh Nagar ordered closure of all schools affiliated to CBSE, ICSC or UP Board from nursery to Class XII till January 15 due to the intense cold.
Uttarakhand witnessed snowfall and Uttar Pradesh recorded a minimum temperature in Lucknow at 8 degrees Celsius.
However, the Meteorological department rejected the likelihood of a possible snowfall in the national capital region, suggesting that with the winds from the Himalayan region, Sunday would see a slight chance of light rain in certain parts of Delhi.The lowest ever temperature reading recorded in Delhi is -2.20C, recorded on January 11, 1967.
Tribal areas and upper hills in Himachal Pradesh quivered under biting conditions. Strong icy winds swept Shimla, where several places remained without power for the seventh day. However, water supply was partially restored. Narnaul in Haryana shivered at minus 0.50C, while Amritsar and Adampur in Punjab experienced bone-chilling cold conditions at 0.80C and minus 0.10C respectively.
The residents in Union Territory of Chandigarh also reeled under piercing chill at a low of 3.70C. Amritsar residents shivered with the low in the holy city settling at 0.80C. Adampur was even colder at minus 0.10C.