Rains across states in north India, fresh snowfall in Kashmir, HP, Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: There was fresh snowfall in Kashmir and the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Tuesday even as rainfall and thundershowers were witnessed across most states in northern India.
Moderate fog was reported in isolated places in Punjab, west Rajasthan, east Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the morning.
Delhi received light rains but the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.6 degrees Celsius, four notches above the normal.The maximum temperature settled at 19 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.
Heavy snowfall and rains in higher hills under the influence of a western disturbance will cause the mercury to drop to 3-4 degrees Celsius by the weekend, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said scattered to fairly widespread rain is likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and isolated places in Rajasthan till Thursday.
Thunderstorm and lightning accompanied with hailstorm is likely in parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh till Wednesday and Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh till Thursday, it added.
Most of the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including tourist hotspots Shimla, Manali, Kufri and Dalhousie, received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, bringing cheer among tourists even as nearly 100 roads remained blocked.
The coldest place in the state was Keylong at minus 7 degrees Celsius.
Kufri in Shimla district received 20 cm snowfall between 5.30 pm on Monday and 8.30 am on Tuesday, followed by Keylong (15.3 cm), Kalpa in Kinnaur district (15.2 cm), Dalhousie in Chamba district (15 cm), Shimla (14 cm) and Manali in Kullu district (8 cm).
Kothi received 45 cm snow, Khadrala 17.5 cm, Pooh 10 cm, Gondla 8 cm, Theog 7 cm and Sarahan 4 cm.
Most of the other parts of the state received light to moderate rain. Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie, Kufri, Keylong and Kalpa recorded sub-zero temperatures.
The minimum in Kalpa was minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, Kufri minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, Manali minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie minus 0.9 degree Celsius and Shimla minus 0.1 degree Celsius.
Rains lashed most parts of Punjab and Haryana as well where the minimum temperatures settled several degrees above the normal.
In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal recorded their respective minimums at 10.2, 10 and 11.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal. Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa recorded respective minimums of 10.2, 10.6, 9.7 and 11.2 degrees Celsius, up to five notches above the normal.
Ambala, Hisar and Karnal witnessed 6.8 mm, 1.6 mm and 8 mm rainfall.
In Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their respective lows at 8.6, 9.8 and 10.2 degrees Celsius, up to five degrees above the normal. The minimum at Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda, Faridkot and Gurdaspur were recorded at 10.3, 10.2, 9.6, 9.2, 9.4 and 7.6 degrees Celsius respectively.
Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda, Faridkot and Gurdaspur recorded 4.2 mm, 8 mm, 8.7 mm, 6 mm, 1 mm, 1 mm, 18 mm, 12.9 mm and 7.6 mm rainfall respectively.
Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 11.1 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal, and witnessed 8.6 mm downpour.
There was snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand and rains lashed the lower areas. It has been snowing for the last three days in areas located above an altitude of 2,500 metres. The rainfall in lower areas was moderate but incessant.
The minimum temperature in Dehradun settled at 10.1 degrees Celsius. Pantnagar recorded a low of 10.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum in Mukteshwar and Tehri were 0.3 and 1.8 degrees Celsius respectively.
Kashmir received snowfall for the third consecutive day. The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, while the minimum at Pahalgam resort settled at minus 3.9 degrees Celsius. Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag, also in south, registered a low of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara in the north recorded minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.
Flight operations to and from Srinagar were normal even as the helicopter service to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district was suspended due to the snowfall.
Jammu city recorded a low of 9 degrees Celsius, 1.6 notches above the normal. Bhaderwah in Doda district registered a low of minus 0.3 degree Celsius and Banihal in Ramban district recorded minus 0.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature settled at 7 degrees Celsius in Katra -- the base camp for pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi.
The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was closed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday amid snowfall and landslides at several places in Ramban district.
Among the rest of the country, rainfall was observed in Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam. There was fog cover in parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.
In West Bengal, the mercury dipped in the plains while the Himalayan town of Darjeeling recorded a low of 1.6 degrees Celsius. At 6.4 degrees Celsius, Siliguri was the coldest in the plains. Kolkata recorded a low of 12.2 degrees Celsius.
The IMD predicted thunderstorm and lightning accompanied with hailstorm over parts of Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh till Wednesday.