Dry, cold weather in most of north India; rains, snow in J and K

Higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir received a fresh bout of snowfall while plains were lashed by rains even as the weather remained dry but cold in most of north India with a thick fog shrouding the national capital on Monday morning affecting visibility and disrupting traffic movement.

It was for the first time that visibility dropped to "zero" in Delhi this winter season.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting center of the India Meteorological Department, said moisture-laden easterly winds and low wind speed led to “very dense” fog in parts of the city.

In Jammu and Kashmir, a few places in the higher reaches of the Valley received fresh snowfall while the plains were lashed by rains, even as the meteorological department said the weather is likely to deteriorate further during the next 24 to 36 hours.

Light to moderate snow, with isolated heavy falls, were reported from a few places in Kashmir including the Zojila axis on the Srinagar-Leh road, officials said.

They said most places in the plains of the valley received intermittent rainfall which continued till the evening. The MeT Office has issued an 'Orange Colour' weather warning for hilly areas of J-K and Ladakh.

Widespread snow and rain in the plains of Jammu are most likely during the next 24-36 hours, it said, adding there is a possibility of heavy snow at isolated places on the higher reaches of J-K and Ladakh.

The weather system is most likely to disrupt surface traffic especially on Zojila, Mughal Road, Banihal-Ramban axis on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and other such vulnerable spots, the officials said.

In Delhi, the Palam weather station recorded “zero” visibility due to “very dense” fog at 6:30 am, Srivastava said.

At the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, “moderate” fog was recorded which lowered visibility to 300 meters, he said.

The visibility should be around 800 metres at the airport for flights to take off, the senior scientist said.

The meteorological department has forecast rain and snowfall in Himachal Pradesh in the coming days.

The weather remained dry in the state in the past 24 hours.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was recorded as the coldest place in the state at minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of 1 degree Celsius, he added.

The highest temperature was recorded in Una at 28 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

Minimum temperatures in Haryana and Punjab hovered above normal limits, with the common capital of the two states recording a low of 12.4 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 11.8 degrees Celsius, up to four notches, while Karnal recorded a low of 11.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

Amritsar in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of 10.4 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal.

Ludhiana recorded a low of 13.3 degrees Celsius, up to six notches while Patiala's minimum settled at 13 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal limits.

Meanwhile, one person was killed and over a dozen people were injured in separate multi-vehicle pile-ups due to fog on two expressways in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, officials said. 

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)