Rain, icy wind add to winter chill;first snowfall in Mussoorie

Rains in vast swathes of north India, coupled with icy winds, intensified the cold wave conditions, which killed two persons in Uttar Pradesh, as fog continued to disrupt rail and air traffic in the region.
Tourist hotspot Mussoorie today received the season's first snowfall, while higher reaches of Uttarakhand, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh witnessed fresh precipitation.
Delhiites reeled under severe cold as light rains, along with icy winds, brought the maximum temperature down by more than three degrees from yesterday. The maximum was recorded at 14.7 degrees Celsius, six notches below the season's average.
The minimum, however, went up to 11 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal and seven points higher than yesterday's 4 degrees.

Due to adverse weather conditions, 56 north-bound trains were delayed and three were cancelled while six flights could not take off on time at Delhi airport.
In Uttar Pradesh, two persons died in different parts of Barabanki district as intense cold wave conditions prevailed across the state and fog occurred in many places.

Hamirpur recorded UP's lowest minimum temperature at 3.2 degrees. The mercury hovered below normal levels in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur and Jhansi divisions.
Light rains also occurred in most places of Punjab and Haryana, intensifying the cold wave conditions. The Union Territory of Chandigarh shivered under 5.8 degrees Celsius, even as the city received rainfall of 1.7 mm.

Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 7.7 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana and Patiala, where the minimum stood at 10 and 10.4 degrees, respectively, were lashed by 2.8 mm and 0.8 mm of rains. In Haryana, Hisar, Karnal and Narnaul recorded low of 11, 10.6 and 9 degrees Celsius.
Light rains also added to the winter woes in Rajasthan where Sriganganagar received a maximum rainfall of 6 mm. Mount Abu was the coldest place on hills with a low of 8 degrees, while Sriganganagar recorded a minimum of 8.7 degrees.
Dense fog engulfed Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar this morning affecting road transportation. Eight trains of North Western Railway were also running late.

In Uttarakhand, Mussoorie received the season's first snowfall luring fun lovers in hordes to the hill town while fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of Garhwal Himalayas shrouded famous temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib under thick sheets of snow.
Lower areas of the state including capital Dehradun were lashed by varying degrees of rain causing a sharp fall in day temperatures across Uttarakhand.