Cold conditions persist in north India; Kashmir, HP receive fresh snowfall

There was no let-up in cold weather conditions in northern India on Monday, with fresh snowfall in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and rains in plains keeping the minimum temperatures largely below the 10-degree Celsius mark. Snowfall in Kashmir for a second consecutive day affected normal life and forced cancellation of all flights to and from the Srinagar airport.

The national capital woke up to a clear sky but witnessed scattered rains in the evening. The maximum temperature in the city dropped by 3.5 degrees Celsius as against that recorded on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The city recorded a low of 8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, and a maximum of 19.9 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of year, it said.

Delhi is expected to witness a partly cloudy day on Tuesday and the maximum and minimum temperatures will hover around 18 and 9 degrees Celsius. Another spell of rains is likely in the city on January 16 and 17 due to a fresh Western Disturbance. Snowfall in Kashmir threw normal life out of gear, officials said.

All the inbound and outbound flights to Srinagar were cancelled due to poor visibility and accumulation of snow on the runway, an Airport Authority of India official said. The early morning snowfall and sleet later in the day led to waterlogging on most of the city's roads, including the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, the officials said.

Electricity supply in many areas has been snapped due to the snowfall, they added. The weather department has forecast more precipitation over the next five days but with lesser intensity from Tuesday.

Higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh also received fresh snowfall while some parts of the state received light rains, the Meteorological Department said. As per the data available at 8.30 am, Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong received 45 cm of snowfall, followed by 15.2 cm in Kalpa, 5 cm in Pooh and 2 cm in Manali in the last 24 hours, Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Parts of the state also received rainfall. Rains led to landslides in Kullu district, forcing closure of the Banala road.

The road has been closed to avoid any untoward incident, Kullu Deputy Superintendent of Police headquarter (DSP HQ) said, adding that it will remain closed till 8 am on Tuesday. Bharmour recorded 15.2 mm of rain, followed by 8.4 mm in Kothi, 4 mm in Dalhousie, 1 mm in Chamba and 0.7 mm in Bhuntar, Singh said.

Keylong was the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of minus 6 degrees Celsius, he said. The minimum temperature in Kinnaur district's Kalpa was minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, followed by 0.8 degrees Celsius in Manali, a famous tourist spot.

The MeT centre has forecast rain and snowfall in high and middle hills, and rain and thunderstorm in plains and low hills till January 19. It has also issued an orange warning for January 13 and a yellow warning for January 16.

The colour-coded warnings indicate the varying levels of severe or hazardous weather. Orange is for weather conditions that have the capacity to impact people significantly, while yellow, the least dangerous, indicates possibility of severe weather.

Isolated places over western Uttar Pradesh received light rains and thundershowers while the eastern parts of the state remained largely dry on Monday, the weather department said. Cold day conditions prevailed at isolated places in the state and few parts of the state reeled under severe cold day conditions, it said.

Day temperatures fell markedly over Faizabad, Lucknow, Bareilly and Meerut divisions while the mercury fell appreciably over Agra and Kanpur divisions. In Gorakhpur division, day temperatures went up and they remained unchanged in the remaining divisions.

Bahraich was the coldest place in Uttar Pradesh with a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. Dry weather with shallow to moderate fog is very likely at a few places over the state on Tuesday, the MeT department said.

In neighbouring Haryana, the minimum temperatures hovered above normal at most places. The mercury settled at a low of 8.degrees Celsius in Ambala, 8.5 in Narnaul, 9.5 in Rohtak, and 7.8 in Bhiwani.

The minimum temperature in Karnal, however, was a notch below normal at 6.8 degrees Celsius. Most parts of Punjab also recorded above normal minimum temperatures.

Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 10.2 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 9.1, Patiala 8.9, Faridkot 10, Adampur 10, Halwara 9.1, Bathinda 10.1 and Pathankot 11.9. Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw a rise in the minimum temperature at 11.3 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal.

Cold wave conditions prevailed in Rajasthan as a few places received rainfall. Till 8.30 am, Jaisalmer recorded 13.7 mm rainfall, followed by 11.8 mm in Sri Ganganagar, 7.6 mm in Phalodi and 5.44 mm in Bikaner, the MeT Department said.

Bundi was the coldest place in the state with the mercury settling at a low of 6 degrees Celsius. Kota and Banasthali recorded a minimum temperature of 8 degrees Celsius each.

Jaisalmer and Sawai Madhopur recorded a low of 8.6 degrees Celsius each, followed by 9.5, 9.8 and 9.9 in Bikaner, Phalodi and Sri Ganganagar respectively. The maximum temperature in most parts of the state was between 18 and 28 degrees Celsius.

Sikar, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Bharatpur, Sri Ganganagar, Churu, Hanumangarh and Bikaner are likely to witness fog till Tuesday, the MeT department said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)