NEW DELHI: If Delhi is giving you the feel of Shimla nowadays, then that's because mercury is in the same freezing zone in the national capital and the erstwhile summer capital of the country.
The temperature has dipped to below 2 degrees Celsius in some parts of Delhi and 1 degree Celsius in Shimla, and touches even minus 2 degrees Celsius at some point of the night.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) On Saturday, in the next 24 hours Delhi could see a further fall in temperature as the cold wave is likely to intensify.
Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills, recorded 7 degrees Celsius, which was much warmer than Delhi during some parts of the day.
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The mercury had settled at 0 degree Celsius in Nainital, the Lake City, in Uttarakhand, in Dalhousie it was -1 degree Celsius. However, the temperature in Kasauli was similar to that of Delhi at 1 degree Celsius.
Just to mention, Srinagar recorded -5.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
Weather conditions in many places in the northwest plains in Haryana and Rajasthan were as cold as hill stations.
According to the weather forecast, Shimla's lowest temperature could go up to 2 degrees Celsius in the next 12 hours.
The IMD forecast for the most of north India, said, "cold wave to severe cold wave conditions along with cold day to severe cold day conditions in many to most pockets are very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, north Rajasthan and Western UP during the next two days."
The IMD said, "severe cold day (SCD) conditions were observed in most pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, UP and Bihar, as mercury dipped to 2 degrees Celsius."
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Many cities in the northern plains are witnessing freezing conditions. Delhi has already broken a couple of records and is on the verge of creating some new ones.
Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are recording almost freezing night temperatures.
According to Skymet data, places like Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala in Punjab recorded minimum below 5 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning. Bhatinda saw the minimum settling at 3 degrees Celsius, in Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib the night temperature recorded was 4.5 degrees Celsius and 4.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The condition was worse in Haryana with a couple of places almost touching the freezing point. For instance, Hisar and Narnaul shivered at a minimum of 0.2 degree Celsius and 0.5 degree Celsius, respectively. Karnal and Gurugram with 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2.4 degrees Celsius as the minimum were not far behind.
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According to Skymet Weather, the condition in the other northwest state of Rajasthan was extremely bad with Sikar seeing the night temperature sliding and settling at a freezing -1 degree Celsius.
Other places, like Alwar and Churu, also saw the minimum settling at 0.2 degree Celsius and 1.1 degrees celsius, respectively, which is close to freezing point.
The hills of North India have been witnessing intense weather conditions for the past few days. In fact, severe cold wave conditions have been affecting J&K, Himachal Pradesh as well as Uttarakhand.
Moreover, night temperature is likely to settle below the freezing point in the upper reaches in the next 24 hours and may settle around -7 and -8 degrees Celsius.
Parts of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will also undergo similar weather conditions between December 28 and December 30, and temperatures in many parts will go beyond the freezing point, according to Skymet Weather.