Monday was coldest day of season in north India

New Delhi, December 3

Several places in the North India on Monday witnessed their coldest day of the winter yet, as the mercury dipped below the season's average, with Leh recording a minimum of -14.4 degrees Celsius.

The national capital witnessed chilly winds in the morning which brought the minimum temperature down to 8 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average and the lowest for the season.

The relative humidity was recorded at 85 per cent.

"At 8 degree, Delhi recorded lowest temperature of the season. May drop further to 7 degree in coming days. Winter chill is here. Day will remain sunny and pleasant," Mahesh Palawat, vice president, meteorology and climate change, Skymet tweeted.

On Sunday, the minimum temperature in the national capital was 9.4 degrees Celsius while the maximum was recorded at 23.4 degrees Celsius.

Leh continued to remain the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 14.4 degrees Celsius as cold further tightened its grip on the Union Territory of Ladakh.

On Sunday, Leh had recorded a low of minus 13.2 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, 1.6 notches below the season's average, the meteorological department said.

The famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, which experienced several feet of snowfall on various occasions last month, was the coldest place in the valley with a low of minus 7.0 degrees Celsius.

However, the sun shone bright this morning in both Kashmir and Jammu regions.

The minimum temperature in the snow-bound Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir improved by nearly 1 notch to settle at minus 5.8 degrees Celsius while Kupwara township of north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius.

The mercury in Jammu dropped to 8.0 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.

Katra, which serves as the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district of Jammu region, recorded a low of 7.0 degrees Celsius Intense cold conditions prevailed in Himachal Pradesh also with temperatures in Tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong remained the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 9.7 degrees Celsius, Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh said.

Kinnaur's Kalpa recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius. Manali recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperatures in Kufri, Shimla and Dalhousie were 3.1, 5 and 5.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 23.6 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

In Haryana and Punjab, Narnaul was the coldest place among cities in the two states at 6.5 degrees Celsius. The common capital Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 9.1 degrees Celsius. PTI