Lucknow: Biting cold to give double the shivers this weekend

LUCKNOW: As the cold conditions intensified in the city, both the maximum and minimum temperatures dropped further, making Friday the coldest day of the winter so far.

No respite is likely till Sunday-Monday. Thereafter, temperatures will rise by a couple of degrees till Thursday (December 24) before plunging again on the Christmas day.
Despite bright sunshine, the mercury in the city could rise maximum to 19.5 degrees Celsius, 4.7 units below normal on Friday.It felt like 16-17 degrees Celsius because of the wind chill effect created by the relentless icy winds lashing the city for the past four days. The minimum temperature recorded in the wee hours was 5.5 degrees Celsius, 3.2 notches below normal. Both the temperatures were the lowest of the winter so far.
Like Lucknow, most cities in the rest of the state also witnessed lowest temperatures of this season so far on Friday. While maximum minimum temperatures dropped 3-11 degrees below normal, minimum temperatures declined by 1-6 degrees below normal
Saturday would be tougher with the state Met department issuing a warning of “Cold Day” as well as “Cold Wave” conditions in many parts of UP, including Lucknow.
“The intense cold is because of the wind chill effect created by the icy northwesterly winds coming from the Himachal Pradesh which recently witnessed heavy snowfall,” said state Met director JP Gupta.
Rae Bareli was the coldest in UP with minimum temperature 3 degrees Celsius, while Mirzapur and Muzaffarnagar recorded 3.6 degrees Celsius each, Banda 4.4, Farrukhabad 4.5, Meerut 4.6, Agra 4.8 and Jhansi 5.1.
Bareilly and Bijnor were extremely cold both during the day and night. Maximum temperature in Bareilly was 11.6 degrees Celsius, 11 units below normal, and minimum temperature 3.4 degrees Celsius, 6 degrees below normal. Maximum and minimum temperatures in Bijnor were 13.6 and 5.2 degrees Celsius respectively.
Maximum temperatures in Gorakhpur and Bahraich dropped to 13.4 and 14.2 degrees Celsius respectively.