Snowfall hits Kashmir Valley, Himachal Pradesh; north reels

Heavy snowfall brought New Year's cheer to Kashmir Valley and Himachal Pradesh while rainfall elsewhere added to the chill on the last day of 2013 as the cold wave kept up its intensity in northern India.
The weather gods did not disappoint tourists thronging to the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh with the hopes of ringing in a 'White New Year', but the heavy snowfall severely affected communications and traffic movement.
Kashmir was cut off from the rest of the country as heavy snowfall forced closure of several roads, including the arterial Srinagar-Jammu national highway, and led to the cancellation of all flights into and out of the city.

The snowfall, which began in the wee hours, also disrupted normal life in the Valley with authorities snapping power to several areas as a precautionary measure.
Many far-flung areas in the Valley, too, remained cut-off in the heavy snowfall, ranging between six inches to 3ft.
Over six inches snowfall was recorded in Srinagar while the high altitude areas of the Valley recorded more than 3ft snowfall.

The snowfall brought about a jump in the mercury with Srinagar witnessing a nearly four degree rise in the minimum which settled at -1.4 degrees Celsius in the city, up from the -5.3 degrees recorded yesterday.

Although the weather in Ladakh remained dry, the minimum there rose by several degrees with Leh town seeing a low of -12.0 degrees, as against the -17.7 degrees recorded there the previous night.
The hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh groaned under the biting cold amidst another spell of snowfall and widespread rain in the state.
Icy, strong velocity winds accompanied by rainfall and snow lashed Narkanda, Sarahan and other areas in the upper Shimla region with the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway blocked beyond Matiana as a result of fresh deposits.
Keylong and Kalpa in the Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts, respectively, experienced moderate to heavy snowfall with the sky remaining largely overcast.

The lower and middle hills were lashed by intermittent rainfall with showers in Chamba measuring 13mm.