J&K, HP reel under sub-zero temp; fog hits flight ops at

Bone-chilling cold prevailed in northern states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh today, while dense fog hit flight operations for three hours at the Chennai airport in the south.
People travelling to the Rajpath to witness the Republic Day parade had to drive through dense fog this morning in the national capital, where the maximum temperature was 18.8 degrees Celsius, four notches below season's average.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.
According to the MeT department, the visibility was recorded 100 metres at 5.30 am which dipped below 50 metres at 8.30 am.

There was no relief from cold wave conditions in Kashmir as mercury stayed several degrees below the freezing point in most parts of the valley.
Kargil town in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir saw the mercury rise by three degrees last night but settle at minus 17.8 degrees Celsius, a Meteorological Department official said.

He said Kargil continued to be the coldest recorded place in the state.
The nearby Leh town was the second coldest as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 6.1 degrees Celsius, up by over four notches compared to the previous night.
He said Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius last night, up from minus 5.7 degrees Celsius the previous night.

Biting cold wave conditions continued in Himachal Pradesh and mercury hovered around freezing point at most places while dense fog engulfed the mid and lower hills, reducing visibility.
A Bolero pickup van veered off the road due to thick fog in the Rajgarh area of Sirmaur district and two persons were seriously injured, police said.
The high altitude tribal areas and mountain passes reeled under extremely cold conditions with minimum temperatures ranging between minus 12 to minus 19 degrees Celsius while Keylong, Kalpa, Manali and Kufri recorded a low of minus 8.2 degree, minus 4.0 degree, 2.6 degree and minus 0.3 degrees Celsius.

The weather remained dry in Uttar Pradesh with shallow to moderate fog occurring at many places and dense to very dense fog at a few places in the state.
According to the meteorological department, cold wave conditions prevailed at isolated places in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The lowest minimum temperature in the state was recorded in Agra at 4.8 degrees Celsius.
A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana as cold wave continued unabated in both the states.
Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, shivered at 7.2 degree Celsius, one degree above normal, a MeT department official said.

Among other places in Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal experienced cold weather conditions at 8, 7.7 and 8.7 degrees Celsius respectively.
Minimum temperatures in Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa settled at 5, 7.3, 7.6 and 7.9 degrees Celsius respectively.
In Punjab, Amritsar braved cold weather at 7.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their lows at 9.5 and 9.6 degrees Celsius respectively -- three notches above normal.
Poor visibility due to heavy fog affected flight operations at the Chennai airport between 5.45 a.m and 8.45 a.m, officials said.
As many as eight arrivals, both domestic and international, were diverted to Bengaluru and Hyderabad, they said, adding 14 departures were delayed, they said.