New Delhi, December 26: Cold conditions intensified in parts of north India today and dense fog engulfed many states as mercury plummeted by up to three notches in Punjab even as Leh and Kargil districts were freezing below minus 18 degrees Celsius.
Foggy conditions prevailed in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
Most parts of Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under intense cold as the night temperature dropped further owing to clear skies.
Leh and Kargil districts in the cold desert of Ladakh were freezing at minus 19 and minus 18 degrees Celsius, respectively, Met office said. The two places also registered a dip in the day temperature which settled at minus 2 in Leh and minus 4 in Kargil.
In Kashmir valley, the famous hill resort of Pahalgam was the coldest place with a low of minus 7.6 degrees.
In the plains of Punjab and Haryana, Amritsar was coldest with a low of 1.4 degrees, three notches below normal. While Rohtak shivered at a low of 3.2 degrees, three notches below normal, Ambala registered 3.8 degrees, also three units below normal.
The ongoing spell of cold conditions have so far claimed three lives, including two in Bathinda and one at Yamuna Nagar in the past one week, officials in Punjab said.
Normal life was affected as mercury dipped to one degree at the hill resort of Mount Abu in Rajasthan last night. Upper air layer of famous Nakki Lake in Mount Abu showed thin frost in the wee hours today.
Dry weather and clear sky would further aggravate cold conditions in the state in the coming weekend, a Met department forecast said.
The national capital continued to reel under cold wave even as the mercury rose slightly to settle at 7.4 degrees.
The minimum temperature yesterday was 6.1 degrees, which was the season’s lowest so far. Today’s minimum is one degree below normal for this point of the season.
Shallow fog reduced the visibility to 500 m at 7.30 am.
Himachal Pradesh witnessed a sunny day with a temperature of 14.1 degree Celsius in comparison to 12.7 degrees yesterday. Night temperature in Shimla, however, was 2.6 degrees. Lower areas elsewhere in the state also witnessed a marginal rise in mercury. But, high reaches areas of the hill state remained under grip of intense cold.
Keylong, headquarters of high altitude Lahaul-Spiti, remained the coldest with night temperature recorded at minus 13.2 degrees.
Other high hills areas like Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded night temperature of minus 4 degrees while it was minus 1.4 degrees in Bhuntar in Kullu district.
-Agencies