Coldest night of year in Himachal's Tabo, Kashmir's Gulmarg resort; snowfall predicted

New Delhi: Tabo in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh and the Gulmarg tourist resort in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the coldest night of the year with the temperatures at both places closer to 10 degrees below freezing point, officials said on Monday.

While cold wave conditions gripped most parts of Himachal Pradesh, Koksar received 2 cm of fresh snowfall; Kalpa and Gondla too saw traces of snow.

While no official data is available for the remote tribal belts and inaccessible high-altitude terrains of the hilly state, minimum temperatures are presumed to be at least 10-12 degrees below freezing point, resulting in the freezing of natural water sources like lakes, springs, and rivulets and tributaries of snow-fed rivers.

However, the weather remained dry in the rest of the state. Snowfall at higher altitudes of Lahaul and Spiti has been reported, while some parts of Pangi in Chamba district are under a thin blanket of snow since the New Year.

The local meteorological station has predicted light rain or snowfall at isolated areas in the higher hills on January 6 and issued a yellow alert for dense fog at isolated places in Solan, Sirmaur and Kangra districts on January 6 and 7, and in Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Mandi districts from January 6-9.

Thick ground frost occurred at several places in lower and mid hills, making the roads slippery during the morning hours.

In Kashmir, the popular ski resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius after receiving another spell of snowfall on Sunday, the officials said.

They said the minimum temperature in Gulmarg for the past two nights was minus 6.5 degrees Celsius. In Srinagar, the minimum temperature dipped slightly to minus 3.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, compared to minus 3.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday night.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.8 degrees Celsius.

The region is currently in the midst of 'Chilla-e-Kalan', the 40-day period of extreme cold, during which night temperatures often drop several degrees below the freezing point.

During this period, the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum as well. However, the plains of the valley have not received any snowfall so far this season.

The India Meteorological Department forecast light rains or snow at isolated places in the higher reaches of north and central Kashmir on January 5 and 6.

Meanwhile, in the national capital, the maximum temperature on Monday settled at 18.5 degrees Celsius, which was 0.8 notch below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.6 degrees Celsius, 0.3 notch below the seasonal average.

The minimum temperature on Tuesday is expected to hover around 7 degrees Celsius, while the maximum may settle near 19 degrees Celsius, with moderate fog likely during the morning hours in Delhi.

“There was no significant fog recorded on Monday; however, dense fog may occur at isolated places and moderate fog at several places over the next two days. Minimum temperatures are likely to fall after the western disturbance moves away and may range between six and eight degrees Celsius over the next five days,” an IMD official said.

Biting cold weather conditions also prevailed at many places in Haryana and Punjab, with Narnaul reeling at 3 degrees Celsius.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the state.

At 4.5 degrees Celsius each, Bathinda and Faridkot in Punjab also reeled under intense cold, recording similar minimum temperatures.

Amritsar recorded a low of 10.2 degrees, Ludhiana 8 degrees, Patiala 7 degrees, while Gurdaspur recorded a minimum of 7.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department.

In Haryana, Hisar reeled under intense cold, recording a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius.

Ambala recorded a low of 9.2 degrees, Rohtak 7.6 degrees, Bhiwani 4.8 degrees, while Karnal registered a low of 7.2 degrees Celsius.

According to the IMD, Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius.