Manali colder than Moscow at -6 degree Celsius cold wave sweeps the North.

Nine deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh as a severe cold wave
gripped northern India on Saturday with Himachal Pradesh’s Keylong and
Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil registering minus 13.9 and minus 15.6 degrees
celsius, respectively, while the national capital recorded its lowest
temperature of the season.

According to the weather office,
another spell of rain and snowfall was expected both in Himachal Pradesh
and Jammu and Kashmir on January 15 and 16.

With this the
weatherman has predicted even harsher weather in the next few days as
Siberian winds and a western disturbance were expected to bring down the
temperatures further.

With the Uttar Pradesh capital registering a
dip of more than seven degrees, at least nine deaths were reported from
Kannauj and Kanpur rural since Friday, an official said on Saturday.

The
Met office said that the mercury would dip steadily till January 19
after which the weather conditions might improve in the state. All
schools upto class VIII have been shut down till Monday.

The
minimum temperature in Lucknow was recorded at 0.4 degrees celsius,
making it the coldest place in the state. The regional Met office said
that it was the lowest in several years.
Intense
cold wave has gripped the Kashmir Valley as it passes through the
40-day period of harsh cold — ‘Chillai Kalan’ — which began on
December 21 and would end on January 30.

All water bodies in the
valley were either completely or partially frozen. Gulmarg and Pahalgam
recorded minus 14.4 and minus 12 degrees celsius, respectively.

Similar
conditions were witnessed in most parts of Himachal Pradesh as
prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kalpa, Dalhousie
and Manali were likely to experience light to moderate spells of
snowfall in the coming days.

Delhi on Saturday recorded its lowest
temperature of the season with the mercury dipping to 3.2 degrees
celsius, four notches below the season’s average, a weather official
said.

“The maximum temperature of the day was likely to hover
around 20 degrees celsius,” said an official from the India
Meteorological Department (IMD).

Humidity at 11.30 am was 70 per cent with visibility recorded upto 800 metres.
Friday’s
minimum temperature was recorded at 4.3 degrees celsius, which was
three notches below the season’s average while on Thursday the mercury
dipped to two degrees Celsius at some places here but at the Safdarjung
observatory (considered standard for the city), the lowest temperature
recorded was at 3.4 degrees celsius.