Cold wave grips North India

Cold wave continues to sweep North India. In Jammu and Kashmir, there was fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of the state. Kargil in the frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest recorded place with night temperature falling to minus 14.5 degree Celsius yesterday. It had recorded a low of minus 14.2 on the 21st of this month when, the 40-day harsh winter period known as Chillai Kalan began. In the Leh town of Ladakh, the night temperature was recorded at minus 12.9 degrees.

text-align: justify;">In Himachal Pradesh, moderate snowfall in upper reaches and tribal areas plunged the mercury. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district recorded a low of minus 11.2 degree Celsius. Thick frost occurred in higher hills and high altitude tribal areas as minimum temperature stayed 10 to 20 degree below the freezing point and water-pipes froze at many places.

In Punjab, the night temperature in Amritsar touched minus 0.2 degree celsius, four notches below normal.