Coldwave abates in HP, sunny day in northwest plains

Chandigarh, Dec 15 (UNI) The coldwave abated in Himachal Pradesh while people in the North West plains today basked in bright sunshine for the third straight day.

In Chandigarh, the mercury level stood normal at 8.4 degrees Celsius from yesterday's 4.6 degrees while in Shimla, it was 5 degrees above normal at 8.6. Patiala remained two degrees above normal at 8.6 Celsius.

Fog continued to affect visibility in many areas in the region with zero visibility in Adampur and Halwara in Punjab. Road and rail traffic was delayed at many places during the night and early morning due to fog, which is likely to continue for a few days.

However, the cold wave is likely to recur soon in many parts of Himachal Pradesh as the weatherman has predicted likely rain or snow in isolated belts of the mountainous state.

Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh are also likely to receive their share of rain with thunder showers in some places during the next 24 hours.

Haryana, Narnaul, which had recorded the minimum temperature at 4.5 degrees celsius yesterday, was warmer today with the mercury rising to 7.6 while it was at 9.0 (+2) at Ambala, 7.6 (-1) at Karnal and 8.8 (+1) degrees at Hisar.

Himachal Bhuntar, rose above yesterday's zero degrees Celsius to touch 1 degrees Celsius, Sundernagar 1.6 degrees while Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded minus 1 (up) from yesterday's -5 degrees celsius.

Jalandhar continued to shiver under 2.4 degrees Celsius temperature even as night temperatures recorded marginal increase at most places in Punjab.

An Official Spokesman, quoting the Air Force Met Centre data, said temperature in Jalandhar's Adampur Airport recorded a negligible rise of 0.8 degrees whereas night temperature in Pathankot was at 6.6 Degree Celsius, 1.6 degrees higher than yesterday.

However, the mercury registered a sudden fall of 2 degrees in Amritsar where a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius was recorded this morning.

UNI JN PB RAI1846