Slight rise in night temp in Northwest; 14 deaths in UP

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Severe cold continued to hold Northwest India under its thrall even as the night temperatures rose at many places in the region staying at minus 1.1 degrees at Amritsar while at least 14 people died in the past 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh, taking the nationwide toll this winter to 169.

The latest deaths were reported from Sonebhadra, Moradabad, Mahoba, Sultanpur, Bareilly, Agra, Etah, Sant Kabirnagar and Siddharthnagar districts, reports said. In Sonebhadra, three people have died, including a woman, due to intense cold wave in the last 24 hours.

Kanpur was the coldest with 6.8 degrees, which is two degrees below the normal. Many long distance trains were running several hours late due to fog.

A biting cold wave lambasted Punjab with Amritsar turning as the coldest place in the plains, recording the minimum at minus 1.1 degrees, five degrees below normal.

Ludhiana and Patiala also reeled under the cold wave conditions recording minimum temperatures at 0.1 and 3.3 degrees respectively.

The night temperature in Chandigarh and its adjoining areas in Punjab and Haryana however, increased to 3.4 degrees, which was still three degrees below normal, from zero degrees recorded yesterday.

In Haryana however, the night temperatures slightly increased with the minimum registered at 2.0 in Ambala, 2.2 at Karnal, 3.0 at Narnaul and 3.8 degrees at Hissar.

Cold wave persisted unabated in Himachal Pradesh with tribal areas experiencing extreme cold wave conditions.

Kalpa in Kinnuar district recorded the night temperature at minus 9.0 against minus 11.5 degrees registered yesterday. Cold wave conditions also prevailed in Mandi, Kullu, Kangra and Shimla districts.

The minimum temperature stayed at minus 1.4 degrees at Sundernagar, minus 0.4 degrees at Bhuntar and minus 2.8 degrees at Una.

Shimla registered a minimum temperature at minus 3.5 degrees.

The entire Kashmir valley continued to be in the grip of intensified cold wave. Srinagar recorded the minimum at minus 5.5 degrees while Jammu registered 2.7 degrees, five degrees below normal.

The cold wave, sweeping Delhi since the beginning of this week, slightly abated with the mercury rising to 5.6 degrees.

Mumbai was still in the grip of a cold wave, with the minimum temperature slightly lower at 11.4 degrees.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Jharkhand, and at isolated places in Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Telangana, interior Karnataka, Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, and at a few places in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Vidarbha and Telangana.

UNI Team BDP KP1922