The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Extremes
Town	Max (in Celsius)	Min (in Celsius)

Ambala	18.3	7.2
Amritsar	17.8	0.6
Bhuntar	17.9	-1.3
Hisar	20.7	4.7
Jammu	—	4.7
Karnal	18.0	7.0
Ludhiana	20.2	1.9
Patiala	20.0	6.8
Shimla	15.1	2.7
Srinagar	10.5	-5.4
Sundernagar	20.7	0.3

NATION

Read under headings Max (maximum temperature), Min (minimum temperature), R (rainfall in past 24 hours) and TR (total rainfall):

Stations	Max	Min	R	TR
Ahmedabad	25	11	0	0
Bangalore	28	18	0	676
Bhopal	21	08	0	1
Bhubaneswar	28	17	0	305
Bhuj	24	11	0	0
Chennai	30	22	0	1856
Dehra Dun	20	05	0	6
Gangtok	14	7	0	157
Guwahati	25	13	0	128
Hyderabad	27	15	0	222
Jaipur	22	5	0	0
Kolkata	28	16	0	461
Lucknow	23	09	0	6
Mumbai	20	19	0	20
New Delhi	19	6	0	1
Panjim	30	19	0	126
Patna	24	12	0	40
Shillong	15	7	0	234
Thiruvananthapuram	32	23	0	703

Snow likely in HP, J&K

New Delhi, December 25
Rainfall: Weather was mainly dry over the region.

Temperature: Past 24 hours change: The minimum temperatures fell in east Uttar Pradesh and changed little elsewhere.

Departure: They were appreciably below normal in Punjab, below normal in Rajasthan and Uttaranchal and normal in the rest of the region. The lowest temperature in the plains was 0.6ºC recorded at Amritsar (Punjab).

Forecast valid until the morning of December 27, 2005: Rain/snow is likely at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal. Weather will be mainly dry in the rest of the region.

Forecast for Delhi and neighbourhood valid until the morning of December 27, 2005: Mainly clear sky. Mist/fog in the morning. The minimum temperature will be around 5ºC.

Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi forecast valid until the morning of December 27, 2005: Sky will be mainly clear.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change.

Chilly winds sweep across North-West

Chandigarh, December 25
A layer of dense fog enveloped Punjab and parts of Haryana on Christmas morning affecting road and rail traffic even as chilly winds continued to sweep across the North-West region.

The minimum temperature in Punjab was minus four degrees below normal at most places while in Haryana it was one to two degrees below normal.The tribal regions of Himachal Pradesh received fresh snowfall that led to cold wave conditions in the entire hill state.

Braving the cold weather, residents in the Union Territory of Chandigarh and at Amritsar, which was the coldest place in the plains, made a beeline for the churches early morning. The historic Ridge Maidan and The Mall in Shimla as well as the famous tourist resort of Manali was thronged by Christmas revellers.

The minimum temperature in Amritsar fell by almost two degrees and was recorded at 0.6 degrees, four degrees below normal. However the minimum in Jalandhar was 2.6 degrees, up by two degrees. In Ludhiana the minimum plummeted to 1.9 degrees (four below normal) from 4.9 degrees yesterday. Patiala recorded a minimum of 6.8 degrees.

In Haryana, the minimum temperatures registered as slight increase with Hisar recording 4.7 degrees, one degree below normal. The minimum in Ambala stood at 7.2 degrees up by two degrees from yesterday while in Karnal it stood at 7.0 degrees, one degree below normal.

The temperature in Chandigarh remained at 5.0 degrees, two degrees below normal.

Biting cold wave conditions prevailed in the tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh. In the capital town of Shimla the minimum stood at 2.7 degrees, one degree below normal. Bhuntar in Kulu district was cold at minus 1.3 degrees, two below normal while Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a minimum of 0.3 degrees. — UNI