Snowfall in Himachal and J-K, min temperature rises in plains

New Delhi, Mar 4: Snowfall in areas close to LoC in Jammu and Kashmir forced officials to issue avalanche warning today and also kept mercury below normal in Himachal Pradesh, whereas minimum temperature rose by up to three notches above normal in parts of Punjab and Haryana.

Delhiites experienced a cold and partially cloudy day as the minimum temperature dropped to 12.7 deg C, normal for this time of the year, as against yesterday''s 14 deg C.

The maximum was recorded at 22.5 deg C, four degrees below normal, as against yesterday''s 20.7 deg C.

"A high danger avalanche warning exists for Chowkibal, Tangdhar, Potkha, Gogaldara, Uri, Bandipora and Gurez areas in the Kashmir Valley," an official of the Natural Disaster Management Cell said.

He said a similar warning has been issued for Kargil, Batalik and Drass sectors in Ladakh region.

The maximum temperature stayed below normal in mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh as the region had more snow and rains, while heavy rains lashed several parts of the hill state.

Gohar in Mandi district received as much as 62 mm of rains, followed by Kasol 59 mm, Bhuntar 50 mm, Seobagh 47 mm, Mandi 41.2 mm, Banjar 41 mm, Jogindernagar 38 mm, Berthin and Mehre 33 mm each, Tissa 32 mm, Ghumarwin 31 mm, Kumarsain and Saloni 30 mm each, Sundernagar 29.1 mm, Pandoh and Kheri 28 mm each, Kahu 25 mm and Karsog 19 mm.

The higher reaches in tribal areas experienced moderate snowfall with Kalpa in Kinnaur district receiving 20 cm of snow.

Shimla, which received 6.2 mm of rains, recorded a low of 5.1 deg C while the maximum temperature rose to 15.6 deg C, three degree above normal.

The minimum temperature in Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Dharamsala was recorded at 4.1 deg C, 3.7 deg C and 5.8 deg C, respectively.

The minimum temperature rose by up to three notches above normal in most parts of Punjab and Haryana today, even as several areas in the region received overnight rains and were engulfed by fog in the morning.

Widespread rains lashed many parts of the two states in the night. Ludhiana received four mm of rains, followed by 3.8 mm at Hisar, 2 mm at Gurgaon, 1.8 mm at Rohtak, 1.6 mm at Bhiwani and 1 mm at Patiala.

Early morning fog engulfed several areas in the region, including Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Ambala, Hisar and Rohtak.

Hisar was the coldest places in the two states with a low of 11.5 deg C, followed by Amritsar and Rohtak at 11.8 deg C each. Narnaul, Karnal and Gurgaon recorded an identical low of 12 deg C, one notch each above normal.

Among other places, Patiala had a low of 12.6 deg C, two notches above normal, followed by 12.9 deg C at Chandigarh, which was two notches above normal.

PTI