New Delhi: Hills states experienced
snowfall on Thursday at many places with heavy sleet forcing closure
of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road link to the
Kashmir Valley.
Snowfall around Jawahar Tunnel and higher reaches of
Pir Panjal mountain range since Wednesday has rendered the
highway slippery and vehicular traffic has been stopped, an
official at the Traffic Control Room said. Over 100
vehicles are stranded at different places on the highway.
Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley, received 3
cm of snow, while the skiing resort of Gulmarg recorded around
2 cm of snow.
Summer capital Srinagar witnessed a cold night
with mercury dipping to 2.6 degrees Celsius.
Higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh witnessed snowfall
at many places, including tourist destination Manali and
Shimla, bringing cheers to visitors. Lower hills received
intermittent showers, with Saloni and Kumarsain receiving 10
mm of rains.
Manali received 2 cm of fresh snow, while the `Queen
of Hills` Shimla experienced 5 cm of snowfall last night when
mercury dipped to 0.8 degree Celsius. High altitude Kinnaur
and Lahaul and Spiti districts also were covered by thick
white blanket.
According to MeT department, rain and snow also
occurred at isolated places in Uttarakhand. Officials have
forecast similar weather for the region o Friday.
In the national capital, it was a pleasant day with
the mercury hovering just below the normal level and morning
mist followed by partly cloudy sky bringing a soothing effect
to the atmosphere.
The day temperature was recorded at 24.2 degree
Celsius, two degrees below normal while the minimum settled at
10.1 degrees, a degree less than normal for this time of the
season. The weatherman predicted that the city might receive
rains on Friday.
Overnight rains lashing some parts of Punjab and
Haryana, brought a decline in the pre-dawn reading with
mercury staying at 2 deg below normal at many places.
While Karnal received 2.2 mm of rains, Chandigarh got
1.4 mm and Amritsar 0.4 mm.
Amritsar was the coldest place in plains of Punjab and
Haryana with a low of 4.6 deg Celsius, which was two notches
below normal. In Chandigarh, the mercury settled at
11.3 deg C. The MeT forecast similar weather for the next two
days in the region.
However, dry weather prevailed in Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan with their capitals Lucknow and Jaipur settling at
10 cm and 16 deg C in night, respectively.
PTI
