Rain keeps temperature down in north, cold wave grips HP hills

Pleasant weather prevailed in north India today with several areas again receiving light to moderate rain and thundershowers, even as cold wave conditions gripped higher hills of Himachal Pradesh following a moderate spell of snowfall.
Delhiites woke up to a pleasant morning with light showers bringing down the temperatures by six to seven degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in the national capital was recorded at 19 degree Celsius, six notches below the normal, while the maximum temperature was 32 degree Celsius, seven notches below the normal, MeT department officials said.
Delhi received 3.6-mm rain between 8.30 AM yesterday and 8.30 this morning, while the humidity recorded this morning was 76 per cent.

While the weather was pleasant in Delhi and surrounding plains, tribal areas and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh were gripped by cold wave conditions following widespread rain and a moderate spell of snowfall.
Mercury dropped by a few notches across Himachal Pradesh, while it dipped to 2.5 degree and 3.0 degree Celsius, four notches below normal, at Keylong and Kalpa in tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur.

The state capital Shimla recorded 18-mm of rain while Jubbar-Hatti (airport) had 16-mm of rain, and minimum temperature dropped to 8.2 degree C, five points below normal.
Berthin and Kasauli were wettest with 35-mm rain while Bilaspur recorded 28-mm. However, Una was the hottest in the region with a high of 32.4 degree C.

In neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, light to moderate rain led to a drop in temperature, which hovered around a little over 30 degree Celsius in most places.
The residents of the Union Territory of Chandigarh woke to a cool morning after overnight showers of 9-mm. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 32 degree C, seven notches below normal.
In Haryana, Ambala received 10.9-mm rain, Hisar 9.4-mm, Bhiwani 3.6-mm, Karnal 11-mm, Panchkula 11-mm, Kalka 13-mm and Yamunanagar 9-mm.
In Punjab, Amritsar received 8.6-mm rain, Ludhiana 6-mm, Patiala 10-mm, Barnala 5.8-mm, Faridkot 28-mm, Garhshankar 9-mm, Khanna 7-mm, Samrala 40-mm, Moga 6.8-mm, Ropar 30-mm, Sangrur 24.6-mm and Mohali 8-mm.

Meanwhile, light to moderate rain and thundershowers occurred at many places of western Uttar Pradesh, though the weather in the state's eastern parts mainly remained dry.
According to the local MeT office, Nazibabad recoded the maximum rainfall at 2-cm, followed by Behari 1-cm.
Temperatures were largely below normal in Meerut division; appreciably below normal in Moradabad, Kanpur and Agra divisions; below normal in Bareilly division; above normal in Gorakhpur and Varanasi divisions; and were normal in the remaining divisions of the state.
However, in the eastern half, heat wave conditions persisted with Orai recording a high of 44 degree Celsius, the MeT office said.

Light to moderate showers also brought down the day temperatures in parts of Rajasthan, where the maximum temperature stayed below 40 degree Celsius.
Barmer recorded maximum of 39.6 degree Celsius followed by Chittorgarh 37 degree C, according to the local MeT office.
Light to moderate rains occurred at few places in Ajmer, Jaipur and Kota division and at isolated places in Udaipur and Jodhpur divisions during the past 24 hours.