Mercury further dips after fresh snowfall

The mercury plummeted by 5-6° Celsius at several places in the north-western Himalayas on Monday as several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand received fresh snowfall, officials familiar with the matter said.

Weather office said that snowfall in the higher reaches would cause temperature dips in the plains of the northern India in the next few days with temperature likely to fall below 10 degrees Celsius in the national Capital by December 9, when there could be another round of snow in the mountains.

In Kashmir Valley, Gulmarg witnessed the coldest night of the season as mercury dipped to minus 7 degrees Celsius following the light snowfall in the meadow on Sunday. Weather office said that 12.2 cm of snow was recorded in Gulmarg during the spell.

“As expected, weather has improved and is mainly clear in all the districts,” said Sonam Lotus, director of Jammu and Kashmir’s meteorological department. He added that cold conditions are likely to continue for some more days.

Srinagar received rains on Sunday while snow fell on mountainous areas like Gulmarg in north Kashmir and Shopian in south Kashmir. Moderate snowfall was also reported at Kargil, Zanskar and in higher reaches of Leh in the Union territory of Ladakh. Jammu received moderate rainfall.

“There is a possibility of light rain and snow around December 8 and 9 at some places. Other than that the weather will mostly remain dry. Overall, no significant weather is expected for the next 10 days in both UTs,” Lotus said.

Temperatures dipped by about five degrees Celsius on Monday after several parts of Himachal Pradesh, including Shimla, Manali and tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti received fresh snow. Around 130 roads in the state were blocked because of snow. Shimla deputy commissioner Aditya Negi said that 98% roads were opened for vehicular traffic by afternoon.