Mercury rises in North; Avalanche warning issued for J-K

Rise in temperatures brought slight respite from cold wave across North even as higher reaches of Himachal and Uttarakhand received fresh snow fall today while an avalanche warning was issued for Jammu and Kashmir.
It was a relatively warm day in Delhi with the maximum temperature rising to 25.4 degrees Celsius while fog in morning hours led to the cancellation of 45 trains.
However, flight operations were reported to be normal at Delhi airport.
Today's maximum was three notches above normal. The minimum temperature also rose to settle at 11 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, said a MeT official.

The humidity in air oscillated between 97 and 46 per cent.
Rains lashed some parts of Punjab even as minimum temperatures rose several notches above normal level in the state as also in Haryana while the mercury scaled up to double-digit figure in most places in Rajasthan.

Snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand hills and isolated drizzle in lower areas caused the mercury to plunge at various places across the state.
The sky remained overcast in Dehradun with light showers in lower areas making people shiver.
Higher reaches of Chamoli district including the Himalayan shrine of Badrinath received fresh snow while icy winds swept the whole district bringing about a sharp drop in mercury, the Disaster Management office in Gopeshwar said.

However, tourists in Joshimath, Auli, Gwaldam and Lohjang were delighted as they received news about the fresh snowfall.
Meanwhile, an avalanche warning for Jammu and Kashmir has been issued by the Centre and people in several districts of the state have been asked not to venture out tonight and tomorrow.
The avalanche warning has been issued for 24 hours beginning 1700 hours of January 29 to 1700 hours of January 30, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.
Medium danger avalanche warning exists for Chokibal- Tangdhar, Keran sector, Gurez sector, Naugam-Kaiyan and Machhal sector.
The avalanche warning has also been issued for Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipur districts and Dras sector in Ladakh district.

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Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district was the
second coldest place with a minimum of minus 4 degrees Celsius. Other places, including the summer capital Srinagar, also witnessed night temperatures around the freezing point, the official said.
Severe cold wave conditions prevailed in most parts of Himachal Pradesh with high-altitude tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti and Rohtang Pass experiencing another spell of snowfall.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul Valley recorded 7 cm of fresh snow while Rohtang Pass, Koksar and Mari received 15 cm, 12 cm and 10 cm of precipitation respectively. The sky remained overcast and chilly winds swept the region.

Una and Solan recorded maximum day temperatures at 20.6 degrees Celsius and 20.4 degrees Celsius respectively, while Shimla registered a high of 17.4 degrees Celsius.
Minimum temperatures also rose marginally and Keylong, Manali and Kalpa recorded a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, minus 3.6 degrees Celsius and minus 2.4 degrees Celsius respectively.
Cold conditions continued unabated in Punjab and Haryana while several places in the region were engulfed with moderate fog in the morning affecting air, rail and road traffic.
However, the minimum temperatures in Punjab and Haryana settled above normal levels in the region, the local MeT office said.

Narnaul was coldest with a low of 6.5 degrees Celsius, one notch above normal. While Amritsar braved at a low of 7.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, the minimum at Karnal was 8.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal.
In Rajasthan, cold wave condition and fog affected isolated places due to north-easterly wind circulation.
Dense fog cover was witnessed in Pilani and Churu whereas Jaipur witnessed smog.
According to MeT department, minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius was recorded in hill station Mount Abu followed by 7 degrees Celsius in Phalodi and Sikar.
Mercury in other districts remained between 10.2 to 11.8 degrees Celsius respectively.