Cold conditions prevail in north India, heavy rainfall likely in southern states from Dec 1

NEW DELHI: Gulmarg in Kashmir shivered at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday as cold conditions prevailed in most parts of north India, while the IMD said the southern states are likely to receive heavy rainfall from December 1.
Eight people were killed in in Chittoor and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh in the last three days due to floods caused by heavy rainfall brought in by cyclone 'Nivar', officials said on Saturday.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

In Delhi, the minimum temperature was recorded at 10.1 degrees Celsius and the maximum was 26.4 degrees Celsius. The city's air quality slipped back into the "poor" category, a day after favourable wind speed helped it improve significantly.

With winds slowing down, government agencies said the air quality is likely to deteriorate further. The city's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 231 on Saturday.

Stronger winds and a drastic reduction in the contribution of stubble burning were two major reasons for cleaner skies over Delhi on Friday. However, the winds slowed down at night allowing the pollutants to accumulate.

Winds are predicted to slow down on Sunday and therefore, Delhi's air quality is likely to deteriorate further and remain in the 'poor' to 'very poor' category over the next two days.

Further north, cold weather conditions prevailed in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir with Gulmarg in the Valley recorded as the coldest place at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.

The meteorological department has predicted dry weather in the union territory till December 4.

Kashmir experienced sub-zero night temperatures as the mercury settled several degrees below the freezing point, with Srinagar recording the minimum temperature of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, while Qazigund (Anantnag) and Kupwara experienced a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius and minus 1.0 degrees Celsius respectively.

Temperatures in Himachal Pradesh increased by one to two notches as weather remained dry in the state in the last 24 hours. Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong was recorded as the coldest place in the state at minus 9.5 degrees Celsius.

The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 28.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

in Rajasthan, night temperatures dipped by a few degrees in parts of the state with Mount Abu recorded as the coldest place with a minimum of 1 degree Celsius while in the plains, Churu was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius.

The weatherman has predicted a fall in night temperatures and cold waves in northern parts of the state during the next 24 hours.

The minimum temperatures hovered slightly above normal limits in Haryana and Punjab, with Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recording a low of 8.7 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 9.5 degrees Celsius, up one notch against normal while Amritsar in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8 degrees Celsius, one notch above normal.

The weather remained dry across Uttar Pradesh with shallow to moderate fog occurring at isolated places. The day temperatures fell appreciably in Varanasi division and rose significantly in Bareilly division but there was no large change in the remaining divisions of the state.

In the south, the IMD said a low pressure area over south Andaman Sea and adjoining Bay of Bengal was "very likely" to concentrate into a depression in the next 48 hours and intensify further before moving towards the Tamil Nadu coast, bringing heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in southern states starting December 1.

It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and reach the south Tamil Nadu coast on December 2. The weather office predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy falls as "very likely" over south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala on December 2.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall was also very likely over north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Mahe and Karaikal and north Kerala from Tuesday to Thursday, the IMD said, adding that south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalseema, south interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep is also likely to receive heavy showers during this period.

Meanwhile, the IMD issued an 'Orange' alert for Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts in Kerala on December 1 and for Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts on December 2 following the low pressure area.

A yellow alert has been also been sounded for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Kottayam districts on Tuesday and for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and idukki districts on Wednesday.

Orange alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain, while yellow alert is heavy rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 11 cm.

In Andhra Pradesh, eight people were killed in floods caused by heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Chittoor and Kadapa districts of the state in the last three days, the state government said on Saturday.

Agricultural crops in 72,755 hectares in Kadapa, 33,269 hectares in SPS Nellore and 9,658 hectares in Chittoor district suffered damage in the deluge, caused by cyclonic storm Nivar, which had brought sharp rains in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry recently .

Hundreds of houses and roads stretching to hundreds of kilometres in these districts were also damaged, the Collectors told the chief minister during a review meeting chaired by him.