North India continued to reel under sharp winter conditions on Friday, with large parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana recording minimum temperatures well below normal, even as Kashmir saw a brief improvement in the cold due to overcast skies. Delhi, meanwhile, remained choked under ‘very poor’ air quality as a cold wave was forecast for the day.

Rajasthan recorded the lowest temperature in the region, with Fatehpur in Sikar district plunging to 1.9°C on Friday morning. The Jaipur Meteorological Centre said minimum temperatures stayed below 10 degrees Celsius across several districts, including Sikar at 3°C, Nagaur at 3.1°C, Lunkaransar at 3.2°C, Churu at 4.5°C and Pilani at 4.8°C. Dry conditions are likely to persist over most parts of the state for the next week, it added.

Bone-chilling cold also gripped Punjab and Haryana. Faridkot, at 3°C, was the coldest among the two states. In Punjab, Bathinda recorded 3.2°C, while Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur reported lows between 5.5°C and 6.2°C. In neighbouring Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest at 3.5°C, while Hisar recorded 3.7°C. Karnal, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa registered temperatures ranging between 5.4°C and 7.7°C. Chandigarh, the shared capital, reported a minimum of 6.1°C.

Kashmir, however, witnessed an improvement in night temperatures as cloud cover pushed the mercury above those recorded in recent days. Srinagar, which had plunged to –4°C the previous night, recorded a low of 0.4°C—over four degrees higher. Qazigund reported –0.2°C, Kupwara 0.2°C, Kokernag 0.8°C, Pahalgam –1.8°C and Gulmarg 0°C. Konibal in Pulwama district remained the coldest in the Union Territory at –3°C. The weather office said light snowfall is possible in the higher reaches later on Friday, while another brief spell is likely on December 8.

In Delhi, there was no respite from toxic air as the Air Quality Index stood at 323 at 9 am, firmly in the ‘very poor’ category. Bawana recorded the highest AQI in the city at 373, while 30 monitoring stations reported ‘very poor’ levels. The capital saw fluctuating pollution levels through the week, with the AQI rising from 279 on Sunday to 372 on Tuesday before settling at 304 on Thursday.

The IMD said a cold wave is expected through the day, with the minimum temperature dipping to 5.6°C, nearly four degrees below normal. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 22°C, while relative humidity touched 100% in the morning.

(With inputs from PTI)