Plains Colder Than Hill Stations
The cold wave spell is likely to persist on Tuesday across Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and west Uttar Pradesh. In Jharkhand, cold wave conditions may continue till Thursday, the IMD said. In Delhi, minimum temperatures on Monday are expected to dip to between 3 and 4.2 degrees Celsius, while maximum temperatures may remain in the range of 18–20 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, plains such as Delhi and Chandigarh are likely to record colder minimum temperatures than hill stations like Shimla, where the IMD has forecast a minimum temperature of around 9 degrees Celsius.
Dense Fog Warning Till January 15
While no significant rainfall or snowfall is expected over the next six days, the weather department has also issued dense fog warnings for several regions. Dense fog is very likely on Monday in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. These conditions may persist till January 15. The IMD cautioned that prolonged cold wave and severe cold wave conditions could adversely affect health, agriculture, transport and power supply.