New Delhi: Cold conditions across North India, particularly the hills do not seem to abate. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow alert for snowfall in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. The alert is issued largely for the higher reaches like, Chamba, Spiti, Kullu and Shimla, which are also popular tourist destinations.
"The duration of snowfall was longer in comparison to previous years. The coming (next) 48 hours will be extremely cold with heavy snowfall," Surender Paul, the head of the IMD regional office in Himachal Pradesh was quoted by news agency ANI.
The meteorological department in its forecast on Monday had said that most parts of the country will continue to experience cold weather for the entire February month with day temperature settling below normal. Above average rainfall was also forecast in the states of Punjab and Haryana during the month.
"Below normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of the country except along the eastern and southwestern coastal areas of peninsular India where it is likely to be normal to above normal," said the weather department in its forecast for the month of February.
The cold weather condition is being attributed to the La Nina affect in the equatorial Pacific region. It (La Nina) is the periodic cooling of parts of the Pacific affecting weather across the world, including Indian winter.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in the national capital Delhi on early Wednesday morning settled at 11.2 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees below normal for this time of the year.
The 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 319 at 4pm on Wednesday, which falls in the 'very poor' category.