Cold revives in J&K, Himachal Pradesh; plains warmer

New Delhi: Cold conditions revived in the hills of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal that witnessed a fresh bout of snow and rains over the last two days though the plains in north soaked up the sun on a clear day on Wednesday.

The minimum temperature dropped by four to seven degrees Celsius in Himachal Pradesh, while mercury in Jammu and Kashmir stayed close to the freezing point at many places.

However, the national capital bathed in sunlight throughout the day and recorded a maximum of 27.5 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 12 degrees Celsius.

In a respite to travellers stuck at many places on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the road link was reopened for traffic today, two days after landslides at some places led to its closure.

"The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway has been thrown open for traffic this morning after the muck left behind by the landslides was cleared off. Only one-way traffic from Jammu towards Srinagar was plying on the highway," an official of the Traffic Control Room said.

Landslides occurred at some places between Ramban and Panthal areas along the nearly 300-km long highway on Monday due to rains, forcing the closure of the road.

Most parts of the Kashmir Valley received intermittent rains last night as well. Gulmarg received three inches of snow yesterday.

The night temperature across the Valley, barring Gulmarg, settled above the freezing point. Srinagar recorded a minimum of 2.7, Qazigund 2.6, Kupwara 0.5, Pahalgam 0.2

Gulmarg registered a low of minus 7 degrees Celsius and was the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir. The mercury in Leh region of Ladakh settled at a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

Intense cold conditions revived in most parts of Himachal Pradesh as high altitude tribal areas and other higher hills had fresh snowfall, causing sharp fall in temperature.

Mercury in high altitude tribal areas stayed between 12 to 16 degrees below the freezing point. Keylong and Kalpa in tribal Lahaul and Spiti had a low of minus 8 degrees Celsius, Kinnaur minus 3.4 and Manali minus 0.8 degrees Celsius.

Elsewhere in the state, Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 3.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Bhuntar 3.6, Solan 5, Sundernagar 5.5, Palampur 6.5, Dharamsala 9.2, Nahan 9.4 and Una 10.2 degree Celsius.

Rohtang and Kunzam passes and other high altitude tribal areas gauged 15 cm to 20 cm of snow.?Kothi got 10 cm of precipitation, followed by Bharmaur 5 cm, Kalpa and Udaipur 3 cm and Khadrala 1 cm.

The mid and lower hills experienced widespread rains and

Banjar and Gohar had 28 mm and 24 mm of rains, followed by, Sundernagar 21 mm, Jhandutta 20 mm, Mandi and Seobagh 19 mm.

In a respite from cold, the minimum temperature increased at most places in Punjab and Haryana.

Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded an identical minimum of 8 degrees Celsius, while Patiala had a low of 9.6 degrees.

Adampur was the coldest place in Punjab, registering a low of 6 degrees Celsius. Pathankot had a low of 9.1, Halwara 9, Bathinda 7.5 and Halwara 9 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh's low settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Karnal was the coldest place at 7 degrees Celsius. Hisar recorded a low of 8.7 degrees, while Ambala's minimum settled at 11.7 degrees Celsius.