Snowfall in hills, cold weather set to strike back in Delhi-NCR
Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, recorded four inch of snow on Sunday night. It recorded the minimum temperature at minus 2.0 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 2.2 degrees Celsius Sunday.
Cold weather is likely to make a comeback in the northern parts of the country with fresh snowfall in the hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
In the national capital, it was a sunny day with the maximum temperature settling two notches above the season's average at 26.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum too rose by 3.4 degrees from Sunday and stood at 14.6 degrees Celsius.
The humidity in air Monday oscillated between 91 and 56 per cent. The MeT department has, however, predicted one or two spells of rain and thundershowers for Tuesday.
Meanwhile, following a fresh spell of moderate snowfall, residents of different areas of North Kashmir got some respite from cold wave as the mercury rose by a few notches.
Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, recorded four inch of snow during the night. It recorded the minimum temperature at minus 2.0 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 2.2 degrees Celsius Sunday.
Gulmarg was the only place in Kashmir Valley where the night temperature settled below the freezing point. Other parts of Kashmir received rainfall providing relief from intense cold conditions.
The mercury in Pahalgam hill resort in south went up by over four degrees from minus 4.2 degrees Celsius Sunday to 0.4 Monday. The hill resort recorded 9.2 mm of rainfall till 8.30 in this morning.
The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was 4.8 degrees Celsius, up by over four degrees from 0.6 degree the previous night. The city received 11.1 mm of rains.
Leh in the frontier Ladakh region recorded a low of minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, an increase of nearly nine degrees from minus 9.9 degrees the previous night.
Fresh snowfall also occurred in higher reaches of Garhwal Himalayas, including the famed Himalayan shrines, while lower areas of Uttarakhand received light showers coupled with icy winds. Snowfall, which started in the higher reaches of the hills last night, continued till this evening.
There was, however, no rain in state capital Dehradun though the sky remained overcast throughout the day.
In Himachal Pradesh, The entire tribal belt and mountain passes had another spell of moderate snowfall while mid and lower hills experienced intermittent rains, causing marginal fall in day temperatures.
Rohtang and Kunzam passes, Koksar, Darcha, Pin Parvati Valley, Chitkul, Kinner Kailash and Chansel and Saach passes received moderate snow.
Keylong and Kalpa in tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur recorded 18 cm and 12 cm of snow while Sangla, Chitkul, Pin Parvati valley, Pangi, Darcha and Koksar received 15 to 20 cm of snow. Narkanda, Khara-Patthar, Kufri, Theog and other higher hills also received 10 cm to 15 cm of snow.
Key tourist destination of Manali was the wettest in the region with 19.4 mm rains while Jubbal and Kotkhai had 15 mm rains, followed by Bhuntar 10 mm, and Sunnibajji, Mashobra- Bijahi, Nurpur and Shimla 9 mm each.
Link roads in tribal areas were blocked due to fresh snow but major national and state highways remained open.
Minimum temperatures rose by a few notches in tribal areas and Keylong and Kalpa recorded a low of minus 5.3 degree, followed by Manali 3.4, Shimla 4.5, and Dharamsala 7.8 degrees Celsius.? ?????
Una was the hottest during the day with a maximum of 24.6 degrees while Nahan recorded a high of 19.0 degrees, followed by Dharamsala 15.4, Shimla 14.1, and Manali 11.0 degrees.
Meanwhile, minimum temperatures rose sharply across Punjab and Haryana, including Chandigarh, even as some places received rains. Night temperatures rose by up to seven notches above normal since Sunday.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 15.3 degrees, six notches above normal while Hisar's minimum rose by over seven notches since Sunday to 14.6 degree Celsius.
Chandigarh's minimum also registered a sharp rise with it settling at 16 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 10.4 degrees, three notches above normal. Patiala and Ludhiana also recorded an increase in the minimum temperatures.