Mercury drops in hilly areas; Kargil freezes at minus 14

Temperatures today witnessed a drop in the mountaineous areas in north India with Uttarakhand recording fresh snowfall and the mercury plunging to minus 14 degrees in Kargil, even as 45 trains were cancelled due to fog in the northern region.
Mercury hovered above normal levels at the plains, with Delhi witnessing clear skies and registering a high of 22.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average.
The visibility was recorded at 2000 meters at 5.30 AM which significantly dropped to 200 meters at 8.30 AM and 11.30 AM. However, it increased to 3000 meters at 2.30 PM.

Minimum temperatures continued to remain several notches above normal level in most parts of Punjab and Haryana as mercury remained in double digits in some areas.
Amritsar continued to remain the coldest place in the two states, registering a low of 4.2 degrees, up by one degree, whereas Chandigarh registered a low of 10.2 degrees, five notches above normal.
In Haryana, Ambala and Hisar registered their minimum at 11.8 degrees and 11.1 degrees, six notches above normal.

In Uttarakhand, overnight snowfall in the hills and isolated light showers accompanied by icy winds in the lower areas added to the chill, with Mukteshwar in Nainital district freezing at minus 1 degree Celsius.

Heavy snowfall hit Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi for hours last night bringing Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines located in these districts under layers of snow.
Chopta and Rudranath peaks in Chamoli district besides Hemkund Sahib, Nandadevi Bio-sphere Reserve and Auli were covered under fresh snow even as icy winds swept the whole of the district. Light snowfall was also recorded at Nagtibba, Buranshkhanda Surkandadevi and Dhanolti near Mussoorie.
Dehradun which awoke to a bright sunny morning recorded a miminum of 6.4 degree Celsius followed by Pantnagar at 6.6 degrees.
Foggy weather continued to disrupt train operations in the northern region with cancellation of 45 trains and 16 Delhi-bound trains being delayed.

Light snowfall of 1.4 cm was recorded in Pahalgam in south Kashmir and areas in the higher reaches, including places near Amarnath cave shrine while other parts of the Valley witnessed a drop in minimum temperature.
In 2012, Gulmarg recorded the lowest night temperature in
the month on January 13, when the mercury settled at minus 16.5 degrees Celsius. The mercury has not dropped below minus 12.0 degrees Celsius at the resort till last night.
Kargil, in the Ladakh region, was another place which recorded its coldest night of the season so far with a low of minus 12.2 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only all-weather road link connecting Kashmir Valley to rest of the country, was opened for traffic, three days after heavy snowfall had led to its closure.
In Punjab and Haryana, the minimum temperatures hovered around the normal levels though fog cover disrupted rail, road and air traffic.
Amritsar in Punjab was the coldest place in the region at 3.8 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal. Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 7.1 degrees Celsius.
Dense fog was witnessed in Karnal, Hisar, Ambala, Patiala and Ludhiana.