Kashmir experiences season's coldest night, Delhi improves

Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, experienced the coldest night of the season in the state as the cold wave sweeping the Valley tightened its grip, while the minimum and maximum temperatures in the national capital Delhi rose by a few notches, Met officials said.
Dense fog across the northern plains of India obstructed vision and hindered movement of vehicles and train services. Around 50 trains were late, 16 rescheduled and 39 cancelled till 6pm, a senior Indian Railways official said in New Delhi.
The night temperature dropped across Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region, at some places by several degrees, with many weather monitoring stations marking the season's lowest temperature, a Met department official said in Srinagar.

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 6C a drop of nearly five degrees from yesterday's minus 1.2C. The official said it was the season's coldest night in Srinagar.
Kargil, in Ladakh region, was the coldest recorded place in the state as the mercury settled at a low of minus 18.8C.
Other towns in the valley which experienced the coldest night of the season were Qazigund (minus 4.6C), Kokernag (minus 4.4) and Kupwara (minus 4.6C). Gulmarg - a popular ski-resort in north Kashmir - recorded a low of minus 9.4C.

Himachal Pradesh, too, experienced biting cold conditions as the temperature dropped further and stayed 2-3 degrees below the normal at most places in the hill state.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti experienced the coldest night in the state with the mercury dropping to a low of minus 12.6C, while Kalpa and Manali shivered at minus 5.0C.
The Met office in Shimla said the temperature was likely to remain 2-3 degrees below the normal over the next few days.
As the two states remained under the grip of cold, the temperature during daytime in Delhi showed improvement.
Delhi savoured a sun-washed afternoon which pushed the mercury to 20.7C. The mercury last night also rose by a few notches to 6.4C, a day after plummeting to season's lowest.

"The minimum temperature at Safdarjung Observatory was recorded at 6.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal, while the maximum is expected to be 20 degrees Celsius," a Met official said in New Delhi.
The weatherman has forecast a clear sky with moderate to dense fog tomorrow morning and mist during the day time.
In Haryana, the state government today announced that all schools will remain shut for winter holidays until January 14.
Most parts of Haryana has been reeling under biting cold conditions for more than a week, with minimum temperatures hovering between 2C and 6C.
Dense fog added to discomfort of people in the state.

And in Punjab, the severe cold sweeping the state further intensified with the minimum temperature hovering between 2C and 5C at most places.
Adampur was the coldest place in Punjab at 0.7C, a MeT department official said in Chandigarh.
Chandigarh experienced a night temperature of 5.8C.
Churu was recorded the coldest place in Rajasthan at 1C. Mount Abu and Sikar shivered at 2C.
In eastern India, cold conditions intensified in West Bengal as icy winds walloped most areas. The MeT office in Kolkata today forecast similar conditions over the next a few days.