Northwest plains bask in Sun despite coldwave

Chandigarh, Dec 14 (UNI) People of North West plains today enjoyed a bright winter afternoon after a shivering night even as cold wave continued in Himachal Pradesh and parts of Haryana and Punjab.

People in Chandigarh, Shimla, Ludhiana, Patiala and Hisar were seen basking in the sun-shine which also came as a welcome relief to thousands of workers holding protest 'dharnas' outside their offices as part of the nationwide Left-sponsored strike.

The people in Jalandhar were also glad to see a bright morning after experiencing the coldest night of the current season with the mercury dipping further to 1.6 degrees Celsius at the Adampur Airport this morning. Besides Jalandhar, most parts of Punjab were in the grip of a cold spell recording minimum temperatures between 5 and 6 degrees this morning but as the day advanced, the sun-shine reduced the severity of the cold weather.

In Chandigarh, the mercury was slightly up at 4.6 degrees Celcius from yesterday's 4 degrees but remained 3 degree below normal while in Shimla it was 4 degrees above normal at 7.8 C and two degrees above normal in Patiala at 8.6 Celsius.

Many areas in the region reported foggy weather with zero visibility in Adampur and Halwara in Punjab. The fog affected road and rail traffic at many places in the region at night and early morning, causing delays. Fog or mist will continue during the nights in the region.

The cold wave was likely to continue in many parts of Himachal Pradesh but Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh are likely to bask under the sun tomorrow as well, the weatherman today forcast.

In Haryana the minimum temperature was recorded at Narnaul at 4.5 degrees Celsius while it was 6.9 degrees at Ambala, 8.2 degrees at Karnal and 8.2 degrees at Hisar.

In Himachal Bhuntar recorded zero degree Celsius, Shimla 7.8, , Sundernagar 0.7 degrees and Una 3.3 degrees. The entire tribal belt was under the impact of cold wave with the mercury hovering below freezing point at some places. Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded minus 5 degrees Celsius.

UNI JN SR RAI1912