Heavy rains lashed parts of Delhi NCR early on Thursday, which lead to a dip in temperature. A spell of cold wave was witnessed in the wee hours of the day while people were seen sitting by the bonfire at several places. The national capital and its suburbs recorded light rains on Wednesday as well. A few areas in the region also received hail. With this, most areas in Haryana and Punjab recorded "satisfactory" or "good" air quality, the first time in the last two months.
Meanwhile, hilly areas in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand witnessed snowfall on Wednesday, which dropped the temperature across north India.
Heavy rains in Delhi
Srinagar and higher reaches of Kashmir received snowfall, while rain lashed other parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the meteorological department said. Snowfall also occurred in some parts of Ladakh, it said.
The inclement weather in most parts of the two Union territories dipped the day temperature several degrees below the season's average, an official of the MeT department said.
He said the night temperature in most parts of the region settled above average except in Leh which recorded the lowest minimum temperature of minus 7.3 degrees Celsius.
After being battered by rains since Tuesday night, snowfall started in Srinagar at around 6.15 pm, the second of the season so far, he said.
In Uttarakhand, higher reaches of the mountains in both Kumaon and Garhwal regions of the state including Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Auli, Hemkund Sahib and Munsyari received heavy snowfall and the peaks became covered with snow. It has been raining intermittently in the lower areas of the state since Tuesday, intensifying the cold.
The MeT department said similar weather is going to continue in the state for a couple of days.
Heavy snowfall is likely to continue at isolated places in the higher reaches of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand, especially in areas located at a height of 3,000 metres and above, it said.
Heavy snowfall in Himachal Pradesh's tribal district Kinnaur forced the administration to shut down schools in two subdivisions on Wednesday, officials said.
Cold wave intensified across the hill-state on Wednesday as the minimum temperature decreased by several notches as higher reaches received snowfall while other parts were lashed by rain, the meteorological department said.
Schools in Pooh and Kalpa subdivisions have been closed as a precautionary measure on the directions of Kinnaur deputy commissioner Gopal Chand, a district official said.
A snow-covered road at Sissu following heavy snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh
Many parts of Kinnaur received around 10 inches of snowfall, district public relations officer Narendra Sharma said.
As per Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh, 32 cm snowfall was recorded in Kalpa till 8.30 am on Wednesday and the minimum temperature dropped to minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Another tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state with the minimum temperature settling at minus 6 degrees Celsius, he added.
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