Cold wave intensifies in North West, Adampur minus 2.2 degrees

Chandigarh, Jan 22 (UNI) Despite bright sunshine, there was no respite from cold wave in North West with the night temperature at Adampur in Punjab dropping to minus 2.2 degrees Celsius and rivers and rivulets freezing in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh, affecting power generation at all hydro-electricity projects in the state.

The night temperatures at most places in the plains of Punjab and Haryana remained below normal and in the tribal districts of Himachal, the minimum was between minus five degrees to minus 20 degrees.

Icy cold winds from the upper reaches of Himachal continued to sweep across the state. Kalpa in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.6 degrees.

The Met office here has predicted possibility of ground frost occuring in Punjab during the next two nights, while the upper reaches of Himachal will have another spell of snowfall.

People reeled under low temperatures in Amritsar where the minimum further plunged to 0.7 degree, five degrees below normal. In Ludhiana the night temperature fell by another two degrees and was recorded at 1.4 degrees, five degrees below normal while at Patiala it was 5.2 degrees, one degree below normal.

In Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest place at 3.0 degrees, while Karnal was also cold at 4.0 degrees, three degrees below normal.In Ambala the minimum was recorded at 4.1 degrees, three degrees below normal. In Hissar the minimum temperature fell by one degree from yesterday and was recorded at 6.4 degrees, three degrees below normal.

Despite sunny weather, cold conditions prevailed in Chandigarh with the minimum falling from 7.2 degrees yesterday to 4.6 degrees, three degrees below normal.

In Himachal, extreme cold wave conditions persisted in the tribal belt where snowfall occured at isolated places, including Killar and Sach Pass. A number of water bodies including Chandertal and Surajtal were frozen, affecting the power generation at all the hydro-electricity projects in the state.

Bhuntar in Kullu district recorded minus 0.9 degrees and Sundernagar in Mandi district showed 0.0 degree. The capital town of Shimla registered temperature of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

The Weather Office has predicted partly cloudy days in the region with fog or mist occuring during night and morning in Punjab and Haryana in the next 24 hours.

UNI