Rains lash several areas of north India, snowfall in J&K, U'khand

There was no let up in cold conditions in the country's northern region on Tuesday, with high-altitude areas in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir receiving fresh snowfall and rains lashing Punjab and Haryana as well as the national capital. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast "fairly widespread" rain or snow in hilly areas of north-west India for Tuesday and Wednesday. There is also possibility of heavy snow or rain and thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and hail, it said.

In Delhi, the Safdarjung observatory recorded 5.7 mm rainfall and Palam observatory 4.4 mm rainfall. The reading at the Lodhi Road, Aya Nagar and Ridge Area observatories was 6.3mm, 5.4mm and 3 mm, respectively, on Tuesday morning. "The minimum temperature recorded at 8.30 am was 10.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal, while the humidity level was 100 per cent," a meteorological (MeT) department official said.

High-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall while rains lashed places in the plains of the Union Territory, the MeT department said. The minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, same as last night.

In south Kashmir, Qazigund, the gateway to the Valley, registered a minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest place in Valley, recording a low of minus eight degrees Celsius. "Light to moderate snow and rains are likely to continue till tomorrow at most places of Jammu and Kashmir and at a few places in Ladakh's Kargil district with the main activity later this evening," MeT department, director, Sonam Lotus, said.

He said this spell is likely to cause more rain or snow in south Kashmir and the Pir Panjal area, including in Banihal-Ramban along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, and in Poonch and Rajouri. This may cause temporary disruption of traffic on the highway, Lotus said.

Uttarakhand's higher reaches received fresh snowfall while lower areas were lashed by rain. The skiing slopes of Auli, the Himalayan shrines of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary were covered in snow.

In Himachal Pradesh, the maximum temperatures decreased by four to five notches as fresh snowfall occurred in the middle and high hills of the state, including at the tourist spots of Shimla, Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie, the MeT department in Shimla said. The state capital received 2 cm snowfall from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Kufri, Dalhousie and Manali witnessed 15, eight and three cm snowfall respectively, he said, adding that Kinnaur's Kalpa recorded 9 cm snowfall. Keylong was the coldest place in the state at minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, whereas the highest temperature was in Una at 17.4 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

Rains lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana also. Union Territory Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recorded 12.1 degrees Celsius, six degrees above the normal, a Met official said. The city received rainfall of 2.5 mm.

Karnal recorded 13.6 mm rainfall, Bathinda 8 mm, Rohtak 7 mm, Hisar 6.6 mm and Ludhiana 3.5 mm, as per the MeT's rainfall record for Haryana and Punjab. In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal recorded 10.2, 10.4 and 10 degrees Celsius respectively, up to three degrees above the normal.

The MeT said Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab recorded their minimum temperatures at 10.4, 10.6 and 11.4 degrees Celsius respectively, up to six degrees above the normal. Night temperatures marginally increased in parts of Rajasthan where Jaisalmer was the coldest place at 9.5 degrees Celsius, Met officials said.

Churu, Bikaner, Pilani, Phalodi, Ganganagar recorded 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 11 and 11.1 degrees Celsius. respectively. The officials said Sikar, Jaipur, Ajmer and Kota recorded 12, 12.9, 14 and 14.7 degrees Celsius.

Rajasthan's Karanpur and Kolayat Magra received 2 cm and Raisingh Nagar, Hanumangarh, Bhadra and Khajuwala received 1 cm rains till Tuesday morning, they said.