New Delhi: Snowfall on Monday hit Kashmir Valley while temperatures dropped by a few notches across Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and Haryana as the cold made a comeback in parts of northern India.
Maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi were recorded below the normal range even though the city witnessed sunny daytime conditions.
The mercury settled at a low of 10.5 degrees Celsius in the national capital, which was two notches below the normal for this time of the year.
The maximum was recorded a notch below normal at 25.7 degrees.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the ski resort of Gulmarg and other high-altitude areas of the state received fresh snowfall which brought the chill back.
Snowfall started in the higher reaches of J&K this morning and nearly six inches of fresh deposits had accumulated on the snow-covered slopes.
Snowfall was reported in Z-Gali, Sadhna top, Razdan top, Gurez, Sonamarg, Khilanmarg, Yousmarg and at the Amarnath cave shrine.
On the other hand, parts of the state, including Srinagar, were lashed by intermittent rainfall, leading to a significant drop in the mercury.
Weather officials said that the change in weather was due to a fresh western disturbance. The maximum in Srinagar was 8.4 degrees, a drop by six notches from yesterday.
Most parts of Himachal Pradesh were reeling under the piercing cold even as stormy conditions subsided in the state.
Minimum temperatures dropped by two to four notches although day temperatures rose marginally.
The mercury plummeted in the high-altitude areas which groaned under the biting chill as the mercury stayed 22 to 34 degrees below freezing point.
Bharmaur, Keylong and Kalpa recorded lows of -13, -9.4 and -2.5 degrees, respectively.
Punjab and Haryana, too, reported a renewed attack by the cold as temperatures dropped by a few degrees across the two neighbouring states. A couple of days after Punjab and Haryana were lashed by heavy rain, temperatures dropped by up to four notches at some places.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh registered a low of 8.5 degrees, a drop by nearly four notches from yesterday.
Karnal in Haryana recorded the lowest temperature across the two states at 6.6 degrees, four notches below normal.
In Punjab, Ludhiana was the coldest place at 7.4 degrees, four notches below normal.
