Several parts of North India are in grip of cold wave. In Uttarakhand, continuous snowfall in hills and rain in some other parts have thrown life out of gear. Power and water supply have been disrupted in many areas due to heavy snow. Road connectivity has also been affected in hilly areas of the state. Met department has predicted more rain and snowfall in Kumaun region of the state.
Snowfall is likely to occur at places with an altitude of 2200 metres and above. AIR correspondent reports that due to snowfall and continuous rains during the last three days, power and water supply has been disrupted in many areas of Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pitthoragarh district. Road connectivity has also been affected in hilly areas of the state.
District administration has been engaged to clear the roads and restoration of Electric and Water supply across the hilly areas. Meanwhile, tourists are enjoying the snowfall in Nainital and Mussoorie and other tourist destinations in the state. Met department predicts that very light to light rain and snowfall likely to occur at isolated places in Kumaun region of the state and dry weather likely to prevail over rest of the state. Snowfall likely to occur at places with height 2200 m and above.
Cold wave conditions further intensified in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, with the minimum temperature dropping a few degrees below normal. Several parts of Punjab and Haryana have been lashed by rains in the past three days. Amritsar was the coldest place in Punjab with a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal.
In Haryana, Hisar was the coldest place with a minimum of 3.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal. Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 6.7 degrees Celsius. A thick blanket of fog also enveloped Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda, Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak and Sirsa.
A day after snowfall, several parts of Himachal Pradesh including its capital Shimla woke up to a sunny morning today. However, most of the middle and high hills of the state including Shimla, Kufri, Manali, Dalhousie and Kalpa shivered at below freezing point. The state will experience mostly dry weather during the next two days.
Meanwhile, the work to clear snow from roads is on. 879 roads in the state are blocked after widespread snowfall yesterday. Shimla police has issued an advisory to the public to remain cautious while driving and even moving on foot as roads might be slippery even after clearing of snow. Power and water supply has been adversely affected in parts of the state due to heavy snowfall. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has directed deputy commissioners of various districts to restore essential services in the state at the earliest. Met office has forecast heavy rain, snowfall in middle and high hills of the state from January 11 to 14 and issued orange warning for Sunday.
Moreover the icy cold winds sweeping the national capital, Delhi brought down minimum temperature this morning. Met Department has forecast further dip in temperature over the weekend due to icy winds coming from the hills.
Gujarat is experiencing fresh spell of cold wave conditions after mercury nosedived during the last 24 hours. Amid heavy snowfall and rain in North India, many parts of Saurashtra and North Gujarat are experiencing the cold wave conditions again. Naliya in Kutch district recorded the lowest temperature in the state at 3.3 degree Celsius last night. Nearly 8 places including Ahmedabad across the state recorded the lowest temperature below 10 degree Celsius.
AIR correspondent reports that Naliya and state capital Gandhinagar remained the two coldest places, where the minimum temperature was dropped by more than 7 degree Celsius in last 24 hours. According to official data received from local weather office, minimum temperature in Gandhinagar remained 7.5 degree Celsius, while Bhuj recorded 8.3 degree Celsius. Deesa, Kandla, Keshod, Rajkot and Ahmedabad also recorded lowest temperature below 10 degree Celsius during the last 24 hours.
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