Bone-chilling cold continued to sting east and north India with the mercury nosediving to seven-year lowest in Kolkata and killing 13 more people in Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal capital Kolkata recorded a low of 9.9 degree Celsius - the lowest in seven years,while hill station Darjeeling at -1.0 deg C was the coldest in the state. Kolkata had recorded minimum 9.4 deg C on January 6,2004. A cold wave alert has been sounded in 10 districts in the state. Severe cold conditions claimed 13 more lives in UP,taking the statewide toll to 100 this winter. While three deaths each were reported from Barabanki and Balrampur districts,two were reported from Kaushambi and one each from Chitrakoot,Basti,Orai,Sant Kabirnagar and Bareilly. Agra at minimum 1 deg C was the coldest place in the state. Lucknow recorded a minimum of 1.4 deg C,six notches below normal,while Varanasi recorded a low of 2.7 deg C,six degrees below normal. Kanpur shivered at minimum 2.2 deg C,while it was 4.8 deg C in Allahabad. Chill intensified in Bihar as north-westerly winds continued to sweep the region,prompting the state government to announce closure of all schools till January 14. Gaya at minimum 3.9 deg C was the coldest in the state. The minimum temperature in state capital Patna settled at 5.5 deg C as against 8.5 deg C recorded yesterday. Elsewhere,Purnia recorded a low of 5.9 deg C,while it was 7.2 deg C in Bhagalpur. Low temperature coupled with icy winds made life miserable for the people in Delhi where the minimum temperature settled below the normal level. The minimum temperature was recorded at 4.6 deg C,two degrees below normal for this time of the year. However,there was no dense fog in the city and flight operations were normal at the IGI airport. Delhi witnesses sunny day After days of piercing chill due to icy winds,Delhiites today had a bright and sunny day with day temperature rising more than three notches although the minimum remained two degrees below normal. The minimum temperature was recorded at 4.6 degrees Celsius,two degrees below normal for this time of the year,while maximum rose to 19.2 from yesterday's 15.6 degrees Celsius. Although the day temperature rose by 3.6 degrees,it was still two notches below the normal. There was no dense fog in the city in the morning,and flight operations were normal at the IGI airport due to good visibility. Met office said the day temperature rose significantly due to absence of icy winds which were blowing at nine km per hour in the city for last few days. Low temperatures coupled with icy winds from the northern mountains have made life difficult for the people. The capital has recorded at least three cold-related deaths since December 26. The Met department has predicted further improvement in weather condition tomorrow and said the minimum and maximum temperatures would be around 6 and 20 degrees. "There may be shallow fog early morning but the day will be sunny and bright," it said. According to MeT statistics,the record for the highest maximum for the month of January was 32.5 degree Celsius recorded on the 28th of 2004. The record minimum is -0.6 degree Celsius recorded on 16th of the month in 1935. In the last decade,only last year the minimum did not drop below five degree Celsius. In 2006,the minimum dropped to 0.2 degrees on January eight while two years later,the lowest minimum was 1.9 degrees on 2nd of the month. The mean minimum for the month of January is 7.3 deg C while the mean maximum is 21.1 degrees.
