An Army Major and four members of a family were among six killed today in avalanches and other snow-related incidents in parts of Kashmir even as the Valley remained cut-off from the rest of the country as the traffic movement on Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed due to snowfall.
Cold conditions abated a bit in northern states with the lowest minimum temperature recorded in the plains was 7.2 degrees Celsius at Sabaur in Bihar while fog affected rail services as 32 north-bound trains were running late while 17 were rescheduled.
An avalanche hit an army camp at Sonamarg in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, resulting in the death of Major Amit Sagar of High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS).
An army official said one soldier had died after getting trapped under the avalanche.
In another incident, four members of a family died as their residential house was buried under snow in Gurez sector near Line of Control in north Kashmir's Bandipora district.
The house of Habibullah Lone collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), 22-year-old son Irfan and daughter Gulshan (19).\
In a separate incident, Abdul Gani Ganaie was killed and another got injured when a house collapsed under the weight of snow at Kralpora in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
It was sunny and cloudy in patches in the national capital with the minimum temperature settling at 12.5 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 25.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.
The visibility in New Delhi was recorded at 800 mt at 5.30 AM. Three hours later, it dropped to 500 mt. The visibility improved significantly to 1,000 mt at 11.30 AM.
The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir has been closed for traffic due to snowfall which has rendered the road slippery, an official said.
Most of the flights to and from Srinagar International Airport have been been cancelled due to poor visibility while two airlines have put their flights to Srinagar on a stand by.
The closure of the road link has resulted in rise in prices of essential commodities like vegetables and food grains.
Meanwhile, most parts of Kashmir Division including Ladakh continued to reel under subzero temperatures with Gulmarg in north Kashmir being the coldest recorded place.
The minimum temperature in the skiing resort fell to minus 3.4 degrees Celsius.
The mercury has failed to breach the freezing point for more than 24 hours there as the maximum temperature yesterday stood at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius. Leh in Ladakh region recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir government issued a 'high
danger' warning for avalanche-prone areas in the Valley following prediction of moderate to heavy snowfall during the next 24 hours.
There was some relief from cold wave conditions in Punjab and Haryana with the minimum temperature rising in both the states.
Amritsar recorded a minimum of 12 degrees Celsius, nine notches above normal. The city also received rainfall of 1.6 mm.
Ludhiana and Patiala registered their lows at 12.6 degrees Celsius and 11.9 degrees Celsius respectively, up to eight notches above normal.
Chandigarh recorded a low of 13 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal.
Ambala in Haryana recorded a minimum temperature of 10.7 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal while Hisar's low was 12.8 degrees Celsius, up six notches.
A slight increase in temperature was recorded in most places in Rajasthan due to a fresh western disturbance even as a thick blanket of fog covered northern parts of the country, affecting train movement.
There is a 2 to 3 degrees Celsius rise in the minimum and maximum temperatures recorded in most places in the state.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded was 8.6 degrees Celsius in Sriganganagar followed by 9 degrees Celsius in Phalodi, 10.4 in Mount Abu, 11.5 in Jaisalmer, 12 in Bikaner and 13.6 degrees Celsius in Churu and Alwar.
Dense fog cover in northern parts of the country forced North Western Railways to change the departure timing of Jodhpur-Varanasi train and delayed nearly 10 trains by an hour to a maximum of 20 hours 50 minutes.
The sun shone brightly and weather was pleasant in Bihar as the maximum temperature remained above normal.
Gaya recorded the minimum temperature at 9.7 degrees Celsius followed by Purnea at 10.2, Patna at 11.7 and Bhagalpur at 12.6 degrees Celsius.
The state's lowest minimum temperature was recorded at 7 degrees celsius at Sabour in Bhagalpur district.
Predicting a wet spell for Uttarakhand over the next two days, the MeT department said heavy rain and snowfall may occur at isolated places across the state during the period.
A western disturbance with an upper air system and its induced cyclonic circulation at lower levels is likely to affect Uttarakhand on Jan 26 and 27 which may cause either rain or snowfall at most places.
Night temperatures were below normal in parts of Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while they were above normal in some parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
The weatherman predict heavy snowfall at a few places in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Heavy rain at isolated places is very likely in Haryana, Chandigarh and Punjab.
