Delhi-NCR to shiver till Wednesday, temp may plummet to 3°C

A private weather agency, refuted an expert's claims who had predicted that the temperatures in Delhi could dip as far as -4 degrees Celsius next week.

New Delhi, Jan 15: The temperature in in Delhi-NCR region is likely to dip from today as the plains will be hit by icy northeasterly winds from the snow-covered mountains, predicted the Indian Meteorological Department on Sunday.

The western disturbance, which had brought reprieve from a cold spell in large swathes of north and northwest India, has begun to retreat, it said.

Large parts of north and northwest India recorded below-normal maximum and minimum temperatures on most days this month before the western disturbance brought relief, an IMD official said.

This was due to a layer of dense fog persisting over the Indo-Gangetic plains for the past 10 to 11 days and a large gap between two western disturbances that allowed frosty winds from snow-clad mountains to blow in for a longer-than-usual period, he added.

The weather office predicted shallow fog for Sunday with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to settle around 17 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Chandigarh

The maximum temperature in Chandigarh settled at 13 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was at 11.4 degrees.

The regional Met centre said in Gurdaspur and Moga, which recorded minimum temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius each, the maximum temperature was at 15 degrees and 14 degrees, respectively.

Ludhiana recorded a maximum temperature of 16.6 degrees Celsius and Patialar reported 15.6 degrees.

The maximum temperature in Mohali was recorded at 13.4 degrees Celsius.

Haryana

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in Sirsa settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, 15.5 degrees in Hisar, 14.8 degrees in Rohtak, 14.7 degrees in Bhiwani.

In the plains, a cold wave is declared if the minimum temperature dips to 4 degrees Celsius or when it is 10 degrees and 4.5 notches below normal.

A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal limits is by more than 6.4 notches. A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 notches below normal.

A severe cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.

Himachal under snow cover

In Himachal Pradesh, Manali received 23 cm of snow followed by 16 cm each in Khadrala and Shillaro, 12 cm in Kufri, 10 cm in Bharmour, 6 cm each in Shimla and Gondla, 4 cm each in Dalhousie and Kalpa and 3 cm each in Hansa and Keylong.

The Met station in Shimla here has predicted dry weather in the region for the next four days and cautioned of dense fog and cold waves in the low hills till Tuesday.

J&K settles below freezing point

In Jammu and Kashmir, night temperatures settled below the freezing point across the Valley. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.1 degrees Celsius on Friday night.

Qazigund registered a minimum temperature of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.2 degrees.

The minimum in Kupwara, a frontier district, settled at minus 3.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam in Anantnag district, registered a low of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Gulmarg in Baramulla district fell over 10 notches from minus 0.6 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 11 degrees, making it the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Saturday, three avalanches hit Ganderbal and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir, but there was no loss of life, officials said.

They said avalanche warnings had been issued for 12 districts following moderate to heavy snowfall on Friday.

Delhi temperature to fall below -4 degrees Celsius next?

A private weather agency, refuted an expert's claims who had predicted that the temperatures in Delhi could dip as far as -4 degrees Celsius next week.

"There are rumors going on in newspapers and TV channels about minimum of #Delhi dipping to subzero. This is a wrong prediction, probably to get some highlight. Please do not believe in such baseless rumors. Ongoing WD is moving away eastwards," Skymet said in a tweet.

"Delhi may witness a minimum of 3-4 degrees between 16 and 18 Jan but won't go below 0 degrees in any way. Isolated pockets may witness a minimum around 2 degrees," Skymet added.