New Delhi: Conditions further improved in northern India on Tuesday as temperatures rose across the region where fresh snowfall occurred in the hilly areas, although Uttar Pradesh reported two more deaths due to chilly weather.
Kashmir Valley received fresh snowfall and saw minimum temperatures rise slightly with Srinagar recording a low of 0.5 degrees, up by over one degree from the previous night`s -1.1 degrees. The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir got 0.5mm snowfall.
The mercury at the tourist resort of Pahalgam went up by almost two degrees from -5.6 degrees the night before to settle at -3.8 degrees. Pahalgam received 2.4mm of fresh snow.
Leh in Ladakh reported a rise by almost two degrees in the mercury to record a low of -10.2 degrees while the nearby Kargil town settled at a minimum of -12 degrees to be the coldest place in J&K.
The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh experienced a bout of mild snowfall while the adjoining areas were lashed by rain even as minimum temperatures rose marginally in the state.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district received 5cm snowfall while Udaipur and Keylong got fresh deposits of 3cm and 2cm, respectively.
Manali received 15mm rainfall while Banjar (8mm) and Rampur (5mm) were among the other places which were hit by showers as skies remained overcast amidst icy winds.
The mercury settled at -13.1 degrees at Bharmaur and registered a rise at Keylong and Kalpa in the Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts, which recorded lows of -5.1 and -0.6 degrees, respectively.
In the plains, the weather continued to be pleasant in Delhi where temperatures settled above the normal range today.
Although the city woke up to a foggy morning, the day turned out to be a clear, bright one with the maximum recorded at 22.1 degrees as against 21.6 degrees yesterday.
The minimum in the national capital was at 8.2 degrees.
People in Punjab and Haryana continued to enjoy the relief from the cold with temperatures rising further across the two neighbouring states.
In Haryana, Ambala registered a low 8.2 degrees while the minimum at Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab was at 9.3 and 7.6 degrees, respectively.
In Uttar Pradesh, two persons succumbed to the chilly conditions in Bhadohi district even as light to moderate rainfall lashed the eastern parts of the state, sources said.
Yesterday as well, the state had reported two casualties in the cold in Muzaffarnagar district.
Meanwhile, given the dense fog and cold wave conditions, the Lucknow district magistrate has ordered closure till January 18 of classes for students between Class I- VIII.
The lowest minimum in the state was 4.2 degrees at Etawah.
In Rajasthan, icy winds abated and temperatures rose to bring relief to the residents of the desert state where fog, however, continued to disrupt train schedules.
Two trains had to be rescheduled while 11 were delayed due to mist or fog in parts of Rajasthan.
The mercury rose by one to five degrees at most places across the state where Sriganganagar recorded the lowest minimum of 4.5 degrees.
At Mount Abu, the jump in the minimum was from -0.5 to 2 degrees.
