Northwest plains continue to reel under bright sunshine

Chandigarh, Dec 17 (UNI) The northwest plains continued to bask in bright sunshine for the fifth straight day today.

In Chandigarh, the mercury was two degree below normal at five degree celsius, while in Shimla, it was four degrees above normal at 8.1. At many places in Punjab, the temperature remained from one to two degree below normal, Amritsar recorded one degree below normal at 4.2, in Ludhiana it was two degrees below normal at 5.4 while in Patiala, the temperature remained at normal at 7.3 degree celsius.

Fog continued to affect visibility in many areas in the region.

The road and rail traffic was also delayed at many places at night and early morning due to the fog, which was likely to continue for another few days.

However, the cold wave was likely to recur in many parts of Himachal Pradesh as the weatherman predicted rain or snow at isolated belts in the mountain state.

In Haryana, Narnaul, which had recorded the minimum temperature at 4.5 degrees celsius earlier, was warmer today with mercury rising to 6.5 while in Ambala, it was one degree below normal at 5.8, 8.4 at Karnal and at Hisar,the temperature was five degree above normal at 11.2.

In Himachal, in Bhuntar, the temperature was zero degree celsius, one degree below normal, 2.7 degrees in Sunder nagar while Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded minus 1.3 degrees celsius.

For the next 24 hours, the Met department predicted mainly a sunny day with fog or mist during night and early morning.

UNI DP VD GC1913