Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Two people lost their lives after cold wave gripped northern India with snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The casualties were reported from Jammu and Kashmir where two teenage girls were trapped under an avalanche in Bandipora district.
Snowfall was reported in Gulmarg, Kishtwar and Srinagar which disrupted the movement of traffic on Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
Delhi experienced light mist and a sunny day has been predicted for Monday. Maximum temperature is expected to be around 18 degrees Celsius today.
Srinagar recorded 1.8 cm of snowfall on Sunday while Qazigund received 13 cm snow. Pahalgam hill resort received 17cm snow and recorded a low of -2.4 degrees, a rise of over two degrees from the previous night`s -5.6 degrees.
The ski resort of Gulmarg received 15cm snowfall.
The minimum also increased in Leh as the mercury touched -6.2 degrees, as against -12.4 degrees yesterday.
The forecast is for light rain or snowfall at a few places in the state with a decrease in precipitation over the coming two days.
In Himachal Pradesh, the tourist resorts of Shimla, Manali and Chail got the first snowfall of the season while the lower reaches were drenched by widespread heavy rain.
It was a white Sunday for Shimlaites with the entire town and its suburbs covered under a thin blanket of snow even as high velocity icy winds swept the area. Shimla, where it snowed in the third week of December after a gap of 21 years, received 10cm snow and recorded a minimum of 0.2 degrees.
High altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmaur and adjoining valley areas reeled under the biting cold as the mercury dipped to stay between -8 and -16 degrees amidst intermittent snowfall.
Among the places where it rained, Kangra was the wettest with 55mm rainfall while Dharamsala and Chamba recorded 45mm and 40mm, respectively. Lower down, light to moderate rainfall was reported at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh over the last 24 hours.
Deoband received 30mm rainfall followed by Nakur, Saharanpur and Bijnore, which got 10mm each.
The lowest temperature in UP was 7.5 degrees recorded at Orai. Punjab and Haryana, too, received light to moderate rainfall at a few places even as the minimum stayed above normal levels in the two neighbouring states.
Also, dense fog, which had paralysed normal life in the two states in the past days, lifted from many places, bringing comfort.
Chandigarh received 9.9mm rainfall while Ludhiana experienced showers measuring 14.1mm. Ambala got 1.4mm and Panchkula received 14mm rain. The minimum in the area hovered a couple of notches above normal levels.
(With PTI Inputs)
