Chandigarh, December 24
Season’s lowest of 3.3 degrees Celsius in the national capital, a stinging minus 3.3 in Srinagar, a freezing Amritsar and sub-zero level in Rohtak - the region reeled under intense cold wave on Saturday. The icy winds blowing in the region are expected to continue in the next few days, said the weatherman.

Mercury slid to minus one degree Celsius in Rohtak, and hit the freezing point at Amritsar. Both places in the northern plains were much colder than the Himachal Pradesh’s hill station, Shimla, which recorded a low of 4.2 degrees. For yet another year, it was a snowless Christmas eve in Shimla with clear skies and bone-chilling winds.

Hisar was the second coldest place in Haryana. It recorded a minimum temperature of 0 degrees Celsius, which is minus 7 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature at Karnal was recorded at 3.2 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded a temperature of 3.7 and 2.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 3 degrees, three notches below normal.

The higher reaches of Himachal continued to reel under sub-zero temperatures. Kalpa in Kinnaur district was the coldest place in the state recording a low of minus 6.1 degrees. It was followed by Manali which shivered at -2.2 degrees.

The free fall of mercury continued in the Kashmir Valley as well with Srinagar recording a low of minus 3.3 degrees. In the ski resort of Gulmarg, the minimum temperature was minus 11.6 degrees while Leh town was the coldest in the state at minus 15 degrees. It was the coldest December 24 in the Capital in last five years with the minimum temperature of 3.3 degrees. "On December 24, 2010, the minimum temperature recorded was seven degrees," an Indian Meteorological Department official said. Chandigarh Met Director Surinder Paul said the cold wave conditions would persist in the region and the temperature is likely to go down further during the next couple of days. He said the weather would remain dry and there are no chances of rain in the coming days as there was no cloud formation due to western disturbances.

(With agency inputs)