Cold wave sweeps North, claims first life in Rajasthan

Cold wave coupled with fog today hit normal life in most parts of Northern plains and possibly claimed its first victim in Jaipur, even as hilly areas of Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir were under the grip of biting chill.
Several trains of North-Western Railways were running late by several hours due to the ongoing fog in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, a railways spokesman said.
Aviation regulator DGCA has also directed all schedule domestic airlines to operate only with CAT-III complaint aircraft along with trained crew during fog hours.
It was a chilly day in the national capital today with the minimum temperature settling at 8 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 22.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal, a Meteorological department official said.
Visibility was recorded at 1,500 meters at 5.30 AM which improved to 2,000 meters at 8.30 AM, he said.

Cold wave intensified in Kashmir Valley with Leh town in Ladakh region being the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir as the mercury fell there to minus 14 degrees.
He said the nearby Kargil town recorded a low of minus 11.4 degrees.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.3 degrees.
Cold weather conditions prevailed today in Haryana and Punjab with temperatures hovering below normal levels at most places.

In Punjab, Amritsar was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 2.5 degrees.
The minimum temperature at Chandigarh settled at 7.4 deg C. However, the residents of the Union Territory woke up to a sunny morning today.
Severe cold wave sweeping across Rajasthan claimed the life of a middle-aged beggar in Jaipur's Ramganj area.
He was found unconscious by passersby in the early morning in the open.
Jaipur experienced the coldest night of the season with 5.3 degrees, about 6 degree less than normal. While Churu recorded the lowest temperature of 2.4 degree C.
The Meteorological Department has predicted mainly dry

weather for most part of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day harshest winter period ending January 31.
It said Kashmir may witness a dry January like the last year with less chances of snowfall during the remaining days of the month.
Owing to the dry weather, the minimum temperature in the Valley has mostly hovered below the freezing point and resulted in increase in common ailments.
Moderate to shallow fog enveloped parts of Punjab and Haryana too, adversely affecting rail and road traffic in the region, even as the minimum temperatures hovered above normal.
Visibility was reduced in the morning due to fog and the MeT department has forecast similar conditions during the next 48 hours.

Chandigarh, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Narnaul, Rohtak and Hisar were among the areas which had foggy conditions in the morning.
However, the minimum temperatures hovered between two to five degrees celsius above normal for this time of the season, the MeT office said.
While Amritsar had a low of 6.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, the minimum at Chandigarh was 6.9 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
Among other places in the region, Narnaul settled at a low of 9.5 degrees Celsius, followed by 10.7 degrees Celsius at Ludhiana, 11 degrees Celsius each at Ambala and Patiala, 11.6 degrees Celsius at Karnal, and 12 degrees Celsius at Hisar.

In Rajasthan too cold weather conditions revived as mercury further dipped with Pilani shivering at 5.5 degrees, a MeT official said.
Fog engulfed north-eastern parts of the state including Alwar, Bharatpur, Srigangangar, Bikaner, Hanumangarh reducing visibility level on roads, he said.
As many as nine trains were running late from 35 min to 2 hr 50 min, North Western Railway's CPRO Tarun Jain said.
Mount Abu on hills recorded minimum of 6.4 degree C followed by Churu 6.8, Sikar 7, Bikaner 7.3, and Jaipur 8 degree celsius.
No major change in the weather is predicted in the next 24 hours in the state, the forecast said.