Amritsar along with many other prominent cities of Punjab are in the grip of cold wave. Icy winds of Dhauladhar and Shivalik ranges have descended in the plains literally freezing many of these places. Amritsar observed the sharpest drop of nearly 7°C in the minimum temperature during past 24 hours to record the season’s lowest at 2°C. As such the city woke up to a foggy morning with zero visibility affecting rail, road and air traffic. Earlier the day temperature also plunged yesterday to less than 15°C for the 3rd consecutive day to witness cold day conditions along with the cold wave.
Amritsar and Adampur (Jalandhar) are known to be the coldest places of Punjab and these two run neck to neck competing for each other. However this time Bhatinda came nearest to Amritsar with a minimum temperature of 2.6°C with Jalandhar a distant 3rd clocking 3.5°C. These inclement weather conditions are likely to prevail and may intensify further to record under 5°c temperatures at many places.
Invariably such low temperatures in the golden city of India are measured during the last week of December. Last year the mercury dropping below 2°C was observed on 30th December (1.2°C). The city has many feathers in its record of going even sub-zero during this month. In 2018, the city recorded 0°C on 28th Dec and still lower of -0.3°C on 25th Dec 2015. This week is going to be rather harsh with dense fog and chilly winds with a little respite even thereafter.