There is no respite expected from the cold wave conditions with the Met department predicting snow and rains due to western disturbances.

Agencies

New Delhi, January 7:

The intensity of the cold wave that has gripped north India refused to abate with intermittent snowfall in the hill tracts of Uttarakhand on Monday. The Kashmir Valley and Leh of Jammu and Kashmir were covered in snow while Shimla had a sunny Monday morning. However, there is no respite expected from the cold wave conditions with the Met department predicting snow and rains due to western disturbances.

Temperature takes a nosedive in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh amid snowfall, rains

Snow has blanketed Himachal Pradesh (Source: ANI)

Dhanaulti and Surkanda areas in Mussoorie have been seeing snowfall since Saturday while heavy snowfall is intermittently happening in Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath valley.

Due to the heavy whitewash and poor visibility, the Yamunotri and Gangotri highways have been closed, completely isolating about two dozen villages. As per the Regional Met Office, there is a possibility of rains and fresh snowfall at some areas in Kumayun region on Monday asd well.

Fog has also affected normal life in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar while Auli and Hemkund Saheb are completely covered in snow.

Naturally, the snow in the hill regions in the north has affected the weather in the plains as mercury also took a dive in these places. The maximum temperature in Dehradun is expected at 19.2 degrees Celsius whereas the minimum was reported at 6.6 degrees Celsius.

Mussoorie was at a minimum of 3.6 degrees while Uttarkashi shivered at 3 degrees Celsius. Almorah district reported a 2.3 degrees Celsius while Mukteshwar recorded a low of 3.1 degrees Celsius. Pithoragarh remained the coldest of them at 1.4 degrees Celsius.

It is unlikely that the weather will improve over the next few days and the cold wave conditions are likely to continue, the weather office said, as per a report by IANS.

Similarly, Himachal Pradesh was blanketed by snow. Since the past 24 hours, Lahaul-Spit’s recorded lowest minimum temperature of -12.0 degree Celsius, while Kalpa in Kinnaur shivered at -8.6 degree Celsius, Manali saw a temperature of – 3.6 degree Celsius and Shimla stood at recorded minimum temperature of -0.7 degree Celsius.

Frozen wonderland in Kashmir Valley, Ladakh

The Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region on Monday were whitewashed in snow as severe cold wave took a hold of the northern region. With temperatures below the freezing point, the Drass town recorded minus 24.8 degrees Celsius, the coldest in Jammu and Kashmir. The maximum temperature in Jammu and Kashmir was below the freezing point at minus 9.8.

The valley’s water bodies remained frozen and so did the water supply taps in Srinagar and elsewhere. Srinagar reported minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam recorded a minus 12.5 and Gulmarg remained at minus 11.0 as the minimum temperatures on Monday.

The Leh town reported minus 11.8 degrees Celsius and Kargil was at minus 17.6 as the minimum temperature. Jammu city recorded 5.6 degrees Celsius, while Katra 4.2, Batote stood at minus 1.1, and Bannihal minus 0.1. Bhaderwah on the other hand was at minus 1.5 as the night’s lowest temperatures, reported the IANS.

Sunshine in Shimla but won’t last

A day after the popular northern hill station witnessed its first snowfall of the year, Shimla woke up to a sunny morning on Monday. The relief, however, is unlikely to last long.

Director, Met Centre, Shimla Manmohan Singh said that snowfall and rain at isolated places is likely in the state on January 8-9 due to western disturbances, reported PTI.

Delhi fog: 13 trains delayed, runway temporarily shut down

As expected, Delhi too saw a cold morning on Monday with the minimum temperature dipping to 7.1 degrees Celsius. The visibility at 8.30 am was 50 metres, said the weatherman.

“The skies will remain clear and the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 19 degrees Celsius,” an official of the MeT department told PTI. The humidity level recorded at 8.30 am was 100 percent, he further said.

The visibility factor has severely affected transport services for commuters. As per the Railways, 13 trains were running late due to fog, which included the Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express and the Garib Rath Express.

Fog also disrupted the flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport with one of the runways shut down from 9 am to 10 am due to low visibility.

However, the flight departures continued from RWY 28, said a source to PTI. The runway number 29 later operated normally after 10 am. The minimum runway visibility required for take-off is set at 125 metres.