Tamil Nadu: Ooty shivers as mercury level drops to 0.8 °C
Jan 29, 2024
Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 29 : Ooty, a popular hill station in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district, saw the minimum temperature on Sunday drop to 0.8 °C while continuing to report frost.
Up to an inch of ice was found on parked vehicles, with residents complaining of experiencing problems trying to fire up their cars.
The sharp drop in the mercury along with the frost turned the sleepy and idyllic hill station into a mini-Kashmir on Monday morning.
In this situation, the impact of frost was seen in Ooty on Monday. In the city, the impact of frost was seen in areas like the Government Botanical Garden, BRICS Open Ground, Boat House, etc.
The minimum temperature in the city was 0.8 degrees Celsius while the Thalaigunda area recorded 0 degrees Celsius
Snow piled up in the Thalikunda area is falling in lumps of snow on the vehicles due to extreme cold and people are fighting the snow by lighting fires.
People said that the normal life of the people and drivers who go to agricultural work in the early hours of the morning has been severely affected due to the cold in the Thalikunda area for the past few days.
The hilly district of Nilgiri experiences frost every year from November to February. However, this year, it started late in January due to storms accompanied by rain. Icy plains were observed in Ooty City and surrounding areas such as Kanthal, Pinker Post, and Thalai Kunta.
Large patches of grasslands in the Nilgiris district appeared to be something akin to a wonderland, with fresh dew drops, often called white frost, carpeting the green grass.
According to local MeT officials, there has been significant variation in the day and night temperatures in recent weeks, with the maximum temperature hovering over 25 degrees Celsius.
