RailEnquiry

LUCKNOW: The last time Lucknow experienced sub-zero temperature, Jawaharlal Nehru was still the country's Prime Minister. It was January 31, 1964. The mercury dipped to minus 1 degrees Celsius, the coldest day ever recorded in the city since the Met office started keeping records in 1952. Forty-nine years after that, the mercury dropped below zero again in Lucknow on Tuesday, with the city recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius, capping an unabated 19-day cold spell that set in on December 21.And that is not all: don't expect a respite from the biting cold for the next three or four days. The Met has predicted a less dense fog, but the icy winds will blow in from the north, adding to the chill factor.On Tuesday, however, the maximum temperature in the city rose marginally to 14.5 from 12.9 on Monday as gusty winds blew away the fog late in the morning. But even that was 7 degrees below normal. Since December 21 - with the exception of just two days, December 31 and January 1, when temperatures were normal - the maximum has been between 3 and 11 degrees below normal and the minimum 2-8 degrees below normal.The city has witnessed extreme temperatures in the past as well, but this time it's different. Earlier, it was either the maximum or the minimum which fell below normal, but this time, both the maximum and minimum have been way below normal, and that too for almost three weeks now. And the strong icy winds have only added to the cold.

Similar conditions prevailed in other parts of the state as well. While Kanpur was freezing at minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, which was also the coldest place in the plains in the country during last 24 hours, the mercury dropped to minus 1 degrees Celsius in Agra and minus 0.2 degrees Celsius in Ghazipur. In comparison, hill stations like Shimla recorded 0.7 degrees Celsius and Dehradun minus 0.5 degrees Celsius.

State Met director JP Gupta said the northwesterly winds coming from the snow-clad hills were responsible for the intense cold wave in the state.

"Strong chilly winds will continue till January 13. Density of fog will reduce. Fog will occur in the morning and night but will clear by afternoon. However, some parts of east UP will witness thick dense fog with visibility 200 metres or below," he said. The Met department has also issued a frost warning in west and central UP for Wednesday.

The cold wave claimed 24 more lives in the past 24 hours in the state, taking the toll this winter to 199 so far. Five people each died of cold in Unnao and Barabanki, three each in Mahoba and Chitrakot, two each in Deoria, Lalitpur and Mau and one each in Firozabad and Hathras. Air, rail and road traffic was hit by the foggy conditions in the morning. While almost all the trains were running late, several flights were also delayed.