North India remains under grip of severe cold

New Delhi: North India continued to reel under the bitter chill today as Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir recorded its coldest night of this winter and icy winds swept several parts of the region. The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar last night was minus 7.8 degrees celsius, which was the coldest night this winter. The previous low was recorded at minus 5.5 degrees celsius, a MeT official said. Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, was freezing at minus 13.6 degrees celsius, making it the second coldest place in the Valley after Gulmarg, the official said. [caption id=“attachment_182343” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“North India continues to reel under the bitter chill today. AP”]  [/caption] While Gulmarg, famous as a skiing resort, recorded a low of minus 15.2 degrees celsius, Kokernag resort in south Kashmir recorded minus 13.0 deg C followed by Pahalgam at minus 12.2 degrees celsius. Kargil town in Ladakh region was the coldest place in Kashmir division with a minimum temperature of minus 17.2 degrees celsius. Kargil had yesterday recorded its coldest night of this winter at minus 19.6 degrees celsius. Leh town, also in Ladakh region, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 13.6 degrees celsius, the official said. The plains of Punjab and Haryana also remained the grip of the cold wave where Narnaul was the coldest at 2 degrees celsius. Hisar, too, experienced a cold night at 4 degrees celsius, down four notches, while Karnal shivered at 4.4 degrees celsius, three below normal. The minimum temperature at Ambala and Bhiwani was recorded at 6.7 degrees celsius and 5.6 degrees celsius, respectively. Cold winds swept Chandigarh where the low settled at 5.4 degrees celsius. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 4.8 degrees celsius followed by Patiala at 5.3 degrees celsius and Ludhiana at 6.2 degrees celsius. The weather office, meanwhile, warned of heavy rainfall, snowfall and hail storms in various parts of Himachal Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Cold wave prevailed in the hill state inspite of marginal rise in mercury as strong icy winds continued to sweep the region. PTI