New Delhi: Parts of north India remained under the grip of cold weather on Friday as temperature dipped further in several hilly areas in the country, including in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir where many areas saw mercury dropping below zero degree Celsius.

According to IMD, Kargil in J&K recorded -13.1 degrees while Leh in Ladakh logged -12.2 degrees and Himachal’s Kalpa registered -1.1 degrees.

The IMD further said that the minimum temperature was recorded below seven degrees in many plain areas in the country. IMD said Rajasthan’s Churu registered 5.4 degrees while Punjab’s Amritsar logged 6.9 degrees.

Hailstorm Predicted in Several States

Meanwhile, the weather department has predicted hailstorm, accompanied by gusty winds and thunderstorm, in several states for today. It predicted hailstorm in many places in Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Rain Lashes Delhi, More Showers Likely

Meanwhile, rain lashed parts of Delhi early on Friday, with the weather office forecasting more showers later in the day.

Weather department officials said an active western disturbance and its interaction with easterly winds were causing light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over northwest and central India, including the NCR areas of Delhi.

In a post on X, the IMD tweeted, “Light to moderate rain/thunderstorm over entire Delhi.”

The observatory at Safdarjung, the national capital’s primary weather station, recorded 1.8 mm rainfall between 2:30 am and 5:30 am, and 7.3 mm after that till 8:30 am.

The Palam weather station recorded 11.3 mm rainfall, followed by Lodhi Road at 6.8 mm, and Pusa at 5.5 mm. The Met office has forecast generally cloudy skies with light to moderate rain during the day. The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius, 2.8 notches above normal.

The air quality at 9 am was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category, with a reading of 372, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.

The 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 345 at 4 pm on Thursday. AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’. 

(With PTI inputs)