Cold wave claimed three more lives in Uttar Pradesh even as temperature in most parts of Northern plains shot up by a few notches giving relief to the people who welcomed harvest festivals, which mark the onset of spring in the region.
Residents of Delhi experienced a warm day with the minimum and maximum temperatures remaining two notches above normal. While the maximum in the national capital settled at 22.9°C, the minimum was recorded at 9.4 °C.
With three more deaths due to the harsh weather, toll in Uttar Pradesh touched 265 this season.
One person each was reported to have died in Gonda, Hamirpur and Ghaziabad districts. However, temperature in the state rose by few degrees.
Nights have been warmer during the last few days and the weather has become dry due to a fall in humidity.
Lowest minimum temperature in the state was 4.6°C at Gorakhpur. Temperatures across Kashmir Valley rose for the second consecutive day on Sunday.
The minimum temperature in the summer capital Srinagar rose by more than a degree to settle at 1.6 °C against the previous night’s 0.4°C. This was a jump of over five notches in the last two days, a Met Department spokesman said on Sunday.
The temperatures had risen on Saturday after fresh snowfall in the Valley. The minimum night temperature in hill resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir went up by almost two notches.
Famous skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was a degree warmer at minus 4.2°C. The resort had received over five inches of snowfall on Saturday.
Night temperature also increased in Leh town in Ladakh where the minimum settled at minus 10.2°C as against minus 12.6°C the previous night.
While, Lohri is being celebrated in across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi and some other parts of North, Makar Sankranti festivities will begin on Monday in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
In Punjab and Haryana, the mercury rose by almost five degrees, giving respite to people from the severe cold wave conditions prevailing for the past several days.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, experienced a low of 8.7°C, which was four degrees above normal, Met department said. In Haryana, Hisar was the coldest at 7.8 °C, two degree above normal. Ambala, Bhiwani and Narnaul had a minimum of 9.7, 8.4 and 10°C respectively.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 9.2°C, 5 degrees above normal. Ludhiana and Patiala recorded minimum temperatures of 8.3 and 9.1°C respectively.
