Mercury rises slightly in Kashmir; Cold persists in north

There was a slight rise in the mercury in Kashmir Valley even as the plains experienced cold conditions today in northern India.
People in the national capital experienced pleasant weather under sunny skies with the maximum settling at 23 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal.
The minimum, too, was recorded a notch below the normal at 10.1 degrees, the MeT office said, adding that the forecast tomorrow is for partially cloudy skies with "mist/shallow fog very likely in the morning".
In Jammu and Kashmir, Leh town in Ladakh got a respite from intense cold conditions as the mercury there rose by over six degrees to record a low of minus 2.8 degrees, which was an improvement of over six notches from the previous night's minus 9.2 degrees.

Kargil town was the coldest recorded place in J-K as the mercury there settled at minus 8.6 degrees compared to minus 7.1 degrees the night before.
In Kashmir Valley, the ski resort of Gulmarg was the coldest place with the mercury at a low of minus 6 degrees, which was a rise of over two notches from the previous night's minus 8.5 degrees.

Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, registered a low of minus 0.1 degree, same as the previous night.
The MeT department has forecast generally cloudy weather in the state from tomorrow and has said there are chances of another spell of wet weather later this week.

Cold conditions persisted in several parts of Punjab and Haryana with Amritsar recording a minimum of 3.8 degrees, three notches below normal.
Ludhiana and Patiala, too, recorded below normal temperatures of 8.1 degrees and 7.6 degrees, respectively.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, saw the minimum touch 8.3 degrees.
Chilly conditions prevailed at Karnal in Haryana, where the minimum settled at 4.6 degrees, four notches below normal. Hisar shivered at 4.9 degrees, down five notches from the normal.
Cold winds due to a fresh western disturbance led to a drop in minimum temperatures in Rajasthan, where Churu recorded the lowest minimum in the state at 4.2 degrees.

"Mercury fell by one to three notches in parts of western and northeastern Rajasthan owing to a fresh western disturbance and cold winds," the weather office said.
Pilani recorded a low of 5.7 degrees, followed by Sikar (7.2 degrees), Mount Abu (8.6), Bikaner (8.5) and Sriganganagar (6.8).
The MeT office has predicted light rainfall or squalls in parts of northeastern Rajasthan in the next 24 hours.