Snowfall in Kashmir, MeT warns of heavy precipitation in HP

The Kashmir Valley was today buried under a fresh bout of snow with Gulmarg gauging nine inches of precipitation even as the weatherman warned of "very heavy" snow and rains in Himachal Pradesh that is battling a piercing cold wave.
Foggy weather disrupted rail traffic in northern region with 30 trains running late and 14 rescheduled.
It was warm and sunny in the national capital at 25.6 degrees Celsius but its air quality index entered the "very poor" zone.
The city, however, is expected to witness light rains tomorrow which will subsequently improve the air quality as the showers will help disperse the suspended particulates.

Most areas in Kashmir received fresh snowfall even as the Meteorological Department has forecast widespread snowfall or rains in the Valley over the next two days.
Gulmarg recorded nine inches (23 cm) of snowfall, Pahalgam 9.5 cm, Kupwara seven and Srinagar two cm of fresh snowfall.

While the fresh snowfall affected the air-traffic at Srinagar Airport, the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was still open for traffic.
Meanwhile, the night temperature across Kashmir division improved by several degrees due to the cloud cover. While Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius, Qazigund town had a low of minus 0.4 degree Celsius.

The mercury in Pahalgam settled at a low of minus 1.3 while Gulmarg registered a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius and was the coldest recorded place in the Valley.
Kargil town of Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place in the state at minus 8.4 degrees Celsius.
The MeT office in Himachal Pradesh said "heavy to very heavy" snowfall or rains are likely in mid and higher hills of the state on January 25 and 26.
The State Disaster Management authority has cautioned the people against the avalanche threat while Deputy Commissioners have been directed to make preparations to meet any exigency in the wake of heavy rains or snowfall.

High altitude tribal areas and other higher hills had another spell of mild snowfall, while some places in lower and mid hills experienced rains andicy winds swept the region under heavily overcast sky.
Kalpa had 10 cm of snow while Rohtang Pass, Kunzam pass and Saach pass had15 to 20 cm of precipitation. Manali was wettest in the region with 18.6 mm rains, followed by Seobagh 4 mm, Bhuntar 3 mm, Manikaran 2 mm and Kangra 1 mm.
High altitude tribal areas and other higher hills reeled under a piercing cold wave with the minimum temperature staying between minus 16 and minus 22 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature hovered above normal across Haryana and Punjab today with the weather office predicting possibility of rain in the two states over the next three days.
Chandigarh recorded a low of 9.7 degrees Celsius. Ambala in Haryana recorded a minimum of 10.2 and Karnal 6.6 degrees Celsius.
In Punjab, the minimum temperature at Amritsar settled at 9.7 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana had a low of 9.3 degrees Celsius and Patiala 9.1 degrees Celsius.
The MeT official said that a Western Disturbance lies over Northeast Afghanistan and neighbourhood, which was likely to bring showers in Haryana and Punjab over the next few days.