NEW DELHI, Jan 14: Rains in vast swathes of north India, coupled with icy winds, intensified the cold wave conditions, which killed two persons in Uttar Pradesh, as fog continued to disrupt rail and air traffic in the region.
Tourist hotspot Mussoorie today received the season’s first snowfall, while higher reaches of Uttarakhand, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh witnessed fresh precipitation.
Delhiites reeled under severe cold as light rains, along with icy winds, brought the maximum temperature down by more than three degrees from yesterday. The maximum was recorded at 14.7 degrees Celsius, six notches below the season’s average.
The minimum, however, went up to 11 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal and seven points higher than yesterday’s 4 degrees.
Due to adverse weather conditions, 56 north-bound trains were delayed and three were cancelled while six flights could not take off on time at Delhi airport.
In Uttar Pradesh, two persons died in different parts of Barabanki district as intense cold wave conditions prevailed across the state and fog occurred in many places.
Hamirpur recorded UP’s lowest minimum temperature at 3.2 degrees. The mercury hovered below normal levels in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur and Jhansi divisions.
Light rains also occurred in most places of Punjab and Haryana, intensifying the cold wave conditions. The Union Territory of Chandigarh shivered under 5.8 degrees Celsius, even as the city received rainfall of 1.7 mm.
Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 7.7 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana and Patiala, where the minimum stood at 10 and 10.4 degrees, respectively, were lashed by 2.8 mm and 0.8 mm of rains. In Haryana, Hisar, Karnal and Narnaul recorded low of 11, 10.6 and 9 degrees Celsius.
Light rains also added to the winter woes in Rajasthan where Sriganganagar received a maximum rainfall of 6 mm. Mount Abu was the coldest place on hills with a low of 8 degrees, while Sriganganagar recorded a minimum of 8.7 degrees.
Dense fog engulfed Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar this morning affecting road transportation. Eight trains of North Western Railway were also running late.
In Uttarakhand, Mussoorie received the season’s first snowfall luring fun lovers in hordes to the hill town while fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of Garhwal Himalayas shrouded famous temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib under thick sheets of snow.
Lower areas of the State including capital Dehradun were lashed by varying degrees of rain causing a sharp fall in day temperatures across Uttarakhand.
Night temperatures in most places of Kashmir stayed above freezing point following rains and snowfall which ended a prolonged dry spell in the Valley. Nearly three inches of snow accumulated in Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir till 8.30 am while Pahalgam in south Kashmir witnessed accumulation of nearly one inch of snow.
Kokernag in south Kashmir experienced light snowfall while the rest of the Valley witnessed light rainfall since yesterday evening.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low temperature of 2.7 degrees Celsius, up by 2.5 degrees from the previous night’s low of 0.2 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in Pahalgam registered a slight drop to settle at 0.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg slipped by over two degrees to settle at minus 3.6 degrees Celsius.
Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, almost four degrees up from the previous night’s minus 7.3 degrees Celsius.
Kargil, also in Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 9 degrees Celsius, MeT officials said, adding that the town was the coldest recorded place in the state.
In Himachal Pradesh, the entire tribal belt and higher hills received another spell of moderate snowfall while mid and lower hills had widespread rains, causing sharp fall in day temperatures.
Shimla and its surrounding resorts of Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda had another spell of fresh snow while Dhauladhar ranges in Kangra, Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur, Rohtang Pass and higher hills in Chamba district experienced heavy snowfall, which threw normal life out of gear.
State capital Shimla received 12 cm of snow while Kufri, Khara-Patthar and Narkanda had 25 cm, 30 cm and 35 cm of snow, respectively. The tribal areas of Lahaul, Pangi and Udaipur remained cut off by road from the rest of the state due to closure of Rohtang Pass.
Strong velocity icy winds accompanied by rain swept the mid and lower hills, and Dharamsala recorded 38 mm of rains followed by Manali 30.4, Gaggal 20 mm and Sundernagar 18 mm.
Minimum temperatures rose marginally due to overcast sky and Keylong recorded a low of minus 2.4 degrees, followed by Kalpa minus 1.0, Manali minus 0.8, Shimla 1.0, and Dharamsala 4.4 degrees Celsius.
Day temperatures, however, dipped by five to nine degrees and Una which was the hottest at 13.0 degrees, followed by Dharamsala 12.0, Nahan 10.7, and Shimla 4.6 degrees. (PTI)
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