Winter eases in northern plains; fresh snow in Kashmir hills

Cold conditions marginally eased in north India with the mercury settling above normal levels in many areas today even as higher reaches of Kashmir received fresh snowfall and the plains of the Valley experienced rains.
It was a fairly warm day in the national capital with the maximum temperature being recorded 26.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average. The minimum temperature settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year, said a MeT department official.
Fifteen north-bound trains were reported to be running late due to foggy conditions in early hours. Flight operations at Delhi airport remained normal.

Many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir, including the tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam, received fresh snowfall while the plains of the Valley experienced rains.
There were reports of snowfall in many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir including in Peer Ki Gali on Mughal Road in Shopian, Sonamarg, Amarnath Cave Shrine, Razdan Pass, Sadhna Top and Gurez, an official of the Meteorological Department in Srinagar said.
Fresh snowfall was also recorded in Gulmarg where 20 cm of snow had accumulated during the night. About 8 cm of fresh snow was recorded in Pahalgam hill resort.

The plains of the Valley, including the summer capital Srinagar, received intermittent rains and the mercury stayed above the freezing point at most places.

Gulmarg resort was the only place in the Valley where the night temperature stayed below the freezing point at minus 4.5 degrees Celsius. It was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.
The minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at 1.3 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir recorded a low of 0.3 degree Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's minus 0.3 degree Celsius.
In Punjab and Haryana, cold weather conditions eased at most places as the minimum temperature rose to a few notches above normal. Amritsar's minimum temperature settled at 8.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

Chandigarh also registered a jump in its minimum temperature as it settled at 14 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. The night temperature at Ludhiana and Patiala was 11.7 and 12.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Cold winds abated in Rajasthan leading to sharp rise in mercury even as dense fog affected running of at least 15 trains of North Western Railway (NWR).
Mercury shot up by one to 3 degrees Celsius at most places in the state as the hill station of Mount Abu recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius and Tonk in the plains registered a low of 8.5 degrees Celsius last night.