The Indian Meteorological Department on Tuesday warned of a heavy to very heavy snowfall in parts of mid and high hill ranges in Himachal Pradesh that might affect the normal life here. It has also warned the outsiders especially the tourists not to venture out unprepared in the higher and inner reaches of the State. There is also a forecast of widespread rains in the lower alleviations.
The weather remained mainly cloudy with some intermittent snowflakes in the entire State on Tuesday. There are reports of moderate rainfall from many places in Mandi and Kullu districts.
Meanwhile the cold wave remained unabated as Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti was low at minus 11 degrees, Kalpa in Kinnaur at minus 7 degrees, the tourist resort of Manali at minus 5 degrees, Dalhousie, Solan at minus 0.4 degrees each, Sundernagar in Mandi and Bhuntar in Kullu at minus 0.2 degrees each and Shimla, Hamirpur and Chamba at zero degrees of temperature.
PTI adds:
Dense fog hits normal life in UP
Dense fog disrupted normal life in a few areas even as dry weather conditions prevailed across Uttar Pradesh.
Night temperatures fell, appreciably in Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Jhansi and Agra, and also in Faizabad, Bareilly and Meerut.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded in the state was 2.3 degrees Celsius at Muzaffarnagar.
The mercury settled below the normal in Allahabad, Kanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad and Meerut while temperatures were above normal in the Jhansi division.
The forecast is for mainly dry weather with the likelihood of dense to very dense fog at a few places.
Adampur coldest in Punjab at minus 0.5 C
There was no let up in biting cold wave sweeping Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh with mercury plummeting to minus 0.5 degrees Celsius at Adampur on Tuesday.
Adampur in Punjab’s Jalandhar district was the coldest place in the two states recording four degrees below normal minimum.
Amritsar, too, was under the grip of severe chill at a minimum of 0.8 deg C, down three notches, while Patiala and Ludhiana recorded respective lows of 5 deg C and 5.9 deg C, the MeT office in Chandigarh said.
Hisar in Haryana, which on Monday reeled under bone-chilling low of minus 2.1 degrees Celsius, on Tuesday, registered a slight increase in the minimum, which rose to 2.2 deg C.
Piercing cold also swept Narnaul (2.5 C), Bhiwani (3 C) and Karnal (3.3 C) while Ambala’s low settled at 6.6 deg C.
Chandigarh, where cloudy weather prevailed today, recorded a low of 6 deg C.
The MeT has forecast no immediate relief from the ongoing cold conditions during the next few days.
Normal life disrupted in Rajasthan; trains delayed
Rajasthan remained in the grip of intense cold where mercury dipped to 0.5 degrees Celsius in Mount Abu followed by Churu which shivered at 1.2 degrees Celsius.
Normal life remained out of gear in the region where dense fog kept vehicular and train movement affected.
According to a North Western Railway spokesperson, eleven trains were reported to be running late and one had to be rescheduled due to foggy weather.
Vehicles were also moving at snail’s pace at the highways due to poor visibility.
Sriganganagar recorded a night temperature of 1.7 degrees Celsius, while Pilani, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Dabok, Chittorgarh and Ajmer recorded minimum of 3.4, 5.2, 5.4, 6.8, 6.9 and 7 degrees Celsius respectively.
Leh reels at minus 17.4 C
The mercury continues to be in a free fall in Kashmir and Ladakh divisions as Leh was the coldest recorded place at minus 17.4 degrees Celsius in the J&K.
Last night Leh recorded a plunge of almost 10 degrees from the previous night’s minus 7.9 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET Department said in Srinagar.
Temperature in the nearby Kargil town settled at a low of minus 19.0 degrees Celsius, almost six degrees down from minus 13.1 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.
Kargil had recorded the lowest temperature of the season at minus 19.8 degrees Celsius on January 3.
Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, one degree down from the previous night’s minus 2.3 degrees Celsius.
The official said the mercury in the nearby Kargil town settled at a low of minus 19.0 degrees Celsius, almost six degrees down from minus 13.1 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The official said the minimum temperature in Pahalgam, in south Kashmir, decreased by over seven degrees from the previous night’s minus 7.4 degrees Celsius to settle at the season’s lowest of minus 14.7 degrees Celsius last night.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg registered a low of minus 11.6 degrees Celsius, as against the previous night’s minus 9.7 degrees Celsius.
The official said the minimum temperature in Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir valley - settled at minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at minus 4.6 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night’s minus 1.8 degree Celsius.
The MeT Department has forecast moderate to heavy rainfall or snow over the state for three days from Wednesday.
