Heavy snowfall in J&K; rain hits plains of north

Snowfall rendered Kashmir Valley cut off while showers were reported in the plains of northern India even as cold weather appeared to ease in parts of the region.

New Delhi: Snowfall rendered Kashmir Valley cut off while showers were reported in the plains of northern India even as cold weather appeared to ease in parts of the region.

In Delhi, temperatures stayed well above normal levels today on a bright, sunny day.
Whereas the minimum temperature in the national capital was recorded three notches above normal at 12 degrees Celsius, the maximum settled four notches above normal at 26.4 degrees.

Trace rainfall was also reported in some parts of the city.

Kashmir Valley was hit by heavy snowfall which resulted in the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only road link between the Valley and the rest of the country.

"The highway was closed to traffic due to heavy snowfall near Jawahar Tunnel and at many other places along the route," said a traffic official. Landslides, too, were reported at a few places along the 294-km arterial highway.

Srinagar received 7cm snowfall overnight while heavy snowfall was recorded in the higher reaches. The mercury settled at a low of 0.2 degrees in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam recorded 3cm snowfall and saw the mercury rise by over one notch to settle at -5.2 degrees as compared to -6.7 degrees the previous night.

Gulmarg recorded a low of -5.2 degrees as against -8.0 degrees the night before. The ski-resort recorded 5ft of snow.

The mercury in Leh increased by over seven degrees to settle at a low of -4.8 degrees while Kargil was the coldest place in J&K with a low of -15 degrees.

Light to moderate rainfall, meanwhile, was reported across Punjab and Haryana where temperatures rose by a few notches above normal.

The Union Territory and common capital of Chandigarh received 2.6mm rainfall while the minimum settled five notches above normal at at 11.6 degrees.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded 6.2mm rainfall while Patiala in Punjab recorded showers measuring 9.8mm.

Light to moderate rainfall and thundershowers were also reported at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh where, too, night temperatures rose in a few areas.

Among the places receiving rainfall were Sitapur, Hardoi, Shikohabad, Chatta and Rampur.

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