Rains, thunderstorm lash several parts of India

New Delhi,Feb 13 (UNI) Rains and thunderstorm lashed several parts of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab while the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh had fresh snowfall today.

Heavy showers lashed the capital this morning, lowering the mercury and bringing about a severe chill in the air.

The rains, which began in the early hours, caught Delhiites unawares forcing most of them, including many school children and morning-walkers to stay at home.

The heavy intensity of the rains could be gauged by the fact that 31 mm of rainfall was recorded till 0830 hrs.

The minimum temperatures dropped by about 3 degree to be recorded at 11.2 degree. There was water loggging in several areas resulting in traffic jams.

Snow and rain continued to lash many areas in North-West India even as the night temperatures stayed above normal in the region.

Chilly winds swept most parts of the region following fresh snowfall in higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh and rain in the hilly state and plains of Punjab and Haryana.

However, the minimum temperature kept above normal as the cloudy weather persisted. Low clouds hung over the plains and the Sun played hide and seek during the day, affording little warmth to the people in the region.

Shimla and higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh had another spell of snowfall. The minimum temperature fell to minus 1.0 degrees celsius in the capital town following snowfall.

At least eighty tourists were stranded at Kufri following heavy snowfall.

Overnight rains triggered fresh landslides at Penthal, disrupting normal traffic on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway.

Traffic on the highway was suspended after fresh landslides at Penthal.

At least three people died due to lightning in Jharkhand.

Vegetables, wheat and mango were destroyed in rains and hailstorm.

Police said two persons were killed in Padma and Barkathha area of Hazaribagh district and one in Gomia block area of Bokaro due to lightning.

In UP, cold conditions, following continuous thundershowers in Lucknow left people shivering for the third consecutive day.

The Sun gradually disappeared after giving some respite.

The weatherman has attributed the change in weather to the western disturbances and snowfall in Uttarakhand, while they have also held out the possibility of more rainfall in the coming days.

Rainfall occurred in Allahabad, Jhansi, Varanasi, Faizabad, Kanpur and Agra divisions in the last 24 hours.

Agra turned out to be the wettest place in UP recording 3.5 mm rainfall. Although mercury continued to be above normal.

Rainfall also affected the schedule of trains. All major trains, including Neelanchal Express and Kashi Vishwanath Express were running late.

Heavy rains and hailstorm in north-eastern parts of Rajasthan have damaged crops in the region, forcing the district administration to conduct an analysis of the losses.

Kharif crops have suffered heavy losses due to unseasonal rains, mainly because of western disturbance.

Sriganganagar witnessed very heavy rains for half an hour yesterday, starting with hailstorm, which covered roofs of houses and cars.

Heavy rains in the north-western parts of state have damaged gram crops. The rains have proved a blessing for some crops in non-irrigated areas.

There has not been much change in the minimum temperatures due to rains in the past few days. Churu remained the coldest in the state today , recording 8 degree Celsius.

Kolkata also experienced light but nagging showers which brought the temperature to 17.3 degree.

In Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior, Chambal, Rewa, Sagar and Jabalpur divisions are likely to receive showers and hailstorm in the next 24 hours.

UNI