Lucknow: Biting cold wave conditions snuffed out 16 more lives in Uttar Pradesh during the last 24 hours as death toll due to the harsh weather touched 249 this winter.
Five people died in Gorakhpur, which was the coldest place in the state yesterday, followed by four each in Farrukhabad and Barabanki, two in Sant Kabirnagar and one in Bijnore.
Met office said Lucknow along with Najibabad (Bijnore) were coldest in the state recording 0.5 (-6) degrees Celsius followed by Kheri with 1, Sultanpur 1.2 (-7) and Gorakhpur 1.8 (-7) deg C.
Maximum temperatures were below normal by 5 to 12 degrees Celsius over some parts of the state.
Weather would be mainly dry over the state in the next 24 hours and fog/shallow fog would prevail over one or two places in the state.
Bone chilling cold returns to Kashmir
Srinagar: The bone chilling cold returned to Kashmir and frontier region of Ladakh as the night temperature witnessed a drop of several notches in Jammu and Kashmir owing to clear skies.
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Kargil town in the cold desert of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 18.2 degrees Celsius as compared to yesterday’s minus 15.8 degrees Celsius.
The nearby Leh town, also in Ladakh, witnessed a drop of four notches in the minimum temperature which settled at minus 16.4 degrees Celsius, a spokesman of the MeT office said.
The Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, experienced a light snowfall the previous night resulting in appreciable improvement in the night temperature with Srinagar recording a low of minus 0.3 degrees Celsius as compared to season’s low of minus 5.5 a day earlier.
However, the respite did not last long as the night temperature in Srinagar again dipped and settled at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
He said the minimum temperature in the famous skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was minus 9.2 degrees Celsius-down by five notches as compared to previous night.
Similarly, the night temperature in Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which also serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra, fell by six notches and settled at minus 9.3 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
Temperatures rise marginally in Punjab and Haryana
Chandigarh: Barring Adampur in Punjab that reeled under intense chill at minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, minimum temperatures at many places in the state and neighbouring Haryana witnessed a marginal increase today.
For the second day today, bright sunshine greeted the residents at most places in the two states and their joint capital here, where the minimum temperature rose by nearly four notches since yesterday to settle at 6 degrees C.
While minimum temperature in Adampur settled three notches below normal, Bathinda registered a slight increase in its minimum since yesterday to settle at 3.6 degrees C.
The minimum temperatures at Amritsar (2.6 degree C), Ludhiana (6.3 degree C) and Patiala (5.7 degree C) settled within the normal range, the weather office here said.
Night temperatures increase in Rajasthan
Jaipur: Night temperatures increased in parts of Rajasthan where Churu remained the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 3.9 degrees Celsius followed by Ganganagar at 4.1 degrees C.
Sikar and Pilani recorded a low of 4.3 deg C and 4.7 deg C respectively, while Vanasthali and Dabok recorded a minimum of 5.2 deg C and 6 degrees Celsius in the state.
Other places in the desert sate recorded night temperatures between 7.6 degrees Celsius to 10.7 degrees Celsius, according to the MeT Department here.