Weather Update: Cold Wave Grips North India, Impacting UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Delhi Battles Severe AQI

A severe cold (Weather Update) wave has gripped North India, including Delhi-NCR, as temperatures sharply dropped following light rains in the plains and snowfall in the mountains. Delhi is fighting biting cold and hazardous pollution levels simultaneously. Punjab and Haryana are still in a chilly grip and dense fog conditions prevail.
There has been an alert for snowfall and cold wave in the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are reeling under icy conditions. The minimum temperature in the national capital Delhi on Tuesday stood at 7 degrees Celsius, and there was a light fog blanket over some parts of the city. On Monday, the minimum recorded was 8 degrees Celsius while the maximum had climbed up to 20 degrees Celsius.
As the cold began to grip, the inhabitants of Delhi huddled over bonfires for warmth while many sought shelter in night homes during the cold spell.
In Rajasthan: The chill persisted and the dropping temperatures truly hampered the usual course of the day, since it was dipping at many places to considerable low. Bikaner even dipped to 9°C, as recorded by IMD.
A cold wave continued wreaking havoc in the lives of people in Jammu and Kashmir as temperatures slid below zero degrees in most areas. In Srinagar, the mercury dipped to -5.2 degrees Celsius at 5:30 am on Tuesday. The minimum temperature at Gulmarg was recorded to be at -0.6 degrees Celsius while the night temperature at Pahalgam plummeted to -6.8 degrees Celsius. The mercury drooped to -0.8 degrees Celsius in Banihal and to -4.6 degrees Celsius in Kupwara.
On Monday, Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of -7 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 7 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
According to the IMD, a cold wave (Weather Update) is said to be when the minimum temperature of a station is 10 degrees Celsius or less for plains and 0 degrees Celsius or less for Hilly regions.
IMD has predicted severe cold wave (Weather Update) in Jammu and Kashmir from December 24. Apart from this, dense fog conditions with cold wave have been forecasted for 23-25 December in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and other states.
Air quality index in national capital on Tuesday fell into the ‘severe’ category due to poor visibility caused by the fog. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality index was at 401 at 8 am. The same had also happened on Tuesday when it came under the ‘severe’ category with a reading of 403 at 7 am.
Particular AQI readings included 417 in Alipur, 423 in Anand Vihar, 425 in RK Puram and 402 at ITO.
It gives the AQI rating, classified as follows: 0-50 is good; 51-100, satisfactory; 101-200, moderate; 201-300, poor; 301-400, very poor; and 401-500, severe.
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