Cold conditions continue in northern India

New Delhi, Feb 18 (PTI) Temperatures today dipped inmost places in the plains and the hills of northern region,with morning fog disrupting traffic in Punjab-Haryana and coldconditions affecting normal life in Himachal Pradesh.

Intense cold wave, meanwhile, swept most parts ofHimachal Pradesh and severely affected normal life, even asthe hill state got respite from rain and snow after a week.

Shimla reeled under piercing cold wave conditions withminimum temperature staying at 1.5 deg C while Bhuntar, Solan,Sundernagar and Dharamsala recorded a low of 1.0 deg C, 1.4deg C, 2.5 deg C and 4.1 deg C, respectively.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district was thecoldest in the region with the low at minus 13.1 deg C whileKalpa in tribal Kinnaur district shivered at minus 5 deg C.

However, the day temperature rose marginally withShimla recording a high of 12.4 deg C while Una was hottest inthe region with a maximum temperature of 21.4 deg C.

Sundernagar recorded a high of 19.6 deg C, followed byMandi and Nahan at 18.6 deg C each and Bhuntar and Solanrecorded 17 deg C each.

Higher reaches in tribal areas had mild snowfall whilesky remained overcast with strong winds sweeping the region.

Cold returned to Punjab and Haryana with the mercurydipping a few notches below normal at several places.

Amritsar in Punjab was the coldest place in the twostates recording a low of 5.2 deg C, two notches below normal,the MeT office said.

Ludhiana registered a low of 8.1 deg C, while Patialarecorded a minimum of 7.6 deg C, two below normal.

In Haryana, Narnaul experienced a cold night at 6.5deg C, down three notches, while the minimum at Rohtak settledat 6.5 deg C, two below normal.

Karnal, too, faced the chill at a low of 6.8 deg C,down three notches while the low at Hisar was 7.7 deg C.

Chandigarh recorded a low of 8.4 deg C, down onedegree.

The MeT said that fog reduced visibility this morningat many places including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Karnal andRohtak.