Snowfall in Kashmir valley, mercury up in UP

New Delhi, Dec 25 (UNI) Fresh snowfall in the upper reaches lowered the temperature in the Kashmir valley while sunshine in Uttar Pradesh brought some respite to the people of the state reeling under acute cold for the past few days.

A meteorological department spokesman told UNI that western disturbances which were active in Northern Pakistan last week, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir, and caused fresh snowfall on the upper reaches in north Kashmir, including Kupwara.

The upper reaches in world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, where the week-long winter festival started last evening, also received fresh snowfall.

Reports of fresh snowfall were also received from the holy Amarnath Cave and its periphery, Sheshnag, Mahaguns, Pisso top and Panjtherni.

A marked rise in the temperature and the bright sunshine in UP today added to the Christmas celebrations all over the state, giving the people a respite from chilly winds.

The weather was recorded above normal in Kanpur, Faizabad and Lucknow divisions, the met office told UNI here.

However, a slight dip in night temperature was recorded in Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Agra and Varanasi divisions.

Agra at six degrees Celsius, (two degrees below normal), was the coldest place in the state. The state capital recorded seven degrees minimum temperature.

Despite a rise in minimum temperature to 6.9 degrees C in the national capital today, cold Easterly winds continued to add chill to the atmosphere.

The maximum temperature at 23.0 degrees C was also a degree below normal, the weathermen said.

The visibility levels, however, continued to remain normal.

The met office has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with the possibility of lights rains and thundershowers in some areas tonight or tomorrow morning.

They have also forecast slight fog or mist in the morning hours.

The minimum temperature would rise to 9 degrees C tomorrow.

Partially cloudy weather prevailed in Punjab and Haryana, pushing the minimum temperatures up by one to three degrees above normal at most places, even as the cold wave continued in the North West.

The met office has predicted, light to moderate rain in parts of Punjab and Haryana in the next 24 hours, which is good news for the wheat crop. The hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which has been experiencing bright sunshine since the last couple of days, is expected to receive snow in the higher reaches, while rain will lash the lower and mid-hills in the next 48 hours.

In Amritsar which had recorded a low of 2.9 degrees celsius yesterday, the night temperature went upto 5.6 degrees, one degree above normal, giving some relief to the people.

In Ludhiana the mercury rose to 7.2 degrees, one degree above normal from 3.5 degrees yesterday. The mercury in Patiala also went upto 7.0 degrees, from 5.7 degrees yesterday.

The minimum temperature at Narnaul in Haryana remained at a low of 4.5 degrees, making it the coldest place in the plains of the North West. The minimum at Hisar went up from 7.2 degrees celsius yesterday to 8.8 degrees, three degrees above normal.

Ambala registered a minimum of 7.0 degrees, while at Karnal the minimum went upto 6.7 degrees, from 5.3 degrees yesterday.

Chandigarh, which witnessed a partially cloudy weather, however, remained cold at 4.6 degrees, two degrees below normal.

Despite sunny weather, chilly winds from the higher reaches continued to sweep across Himachal, including the capital hill resort of Shimla, where the minumum was 5.3 degrees, one degree below normal. Bhuntar recorded a minimum of 0.0 degrees, while Sundernagar in Mandi district was cold at 1.1 degrees.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Jammu and Kashmir and at isolated places in Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Night temperatures were appreciably below normal in some parts of Rayalaseema and south interior Karnataka. They were appreciably to markedly above normal in west Rajasthan, Gujarat and in some parts of Uttaranchal, east Rajasthan and north Madhya Maharashtra.

The temperatures were above normal in Assam, Meghalaya, north Konkan, north coastal Karnataka, in some parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and coastal Andhra Pradesh, while they were normal over the rest of the country.

Rain or thundershowers had occurred at isolated places in sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.

Dry weather prevailed over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states and Kerala.

UNI TEAM SI RAI1931