Snow in Himachal, rains in parts of N India bring down temp

Keylong in Himachal's Lahaul and Spiti district experienced 5 cm of snow while Kalpa in neighbouring Kinnaur witnessed heavy sleet (24mm), MeT officials said.

Mandi, Dharamsala and Sundernagar experienced 26 mm, 38 mm and 30 mm of rains respectively, while day temperature hovered around 24 degrees or less in many parts of the region, which was around 6 deg below yesterday's readings.

State capital Shimla also experienced thunderstorm.In the national capital, rain gauges measured 2.8 mm rainfall between 8:30 pm last evening and 5:30 pm today which brought chill in the air and pulled down the mercury, MeT officials said.

Most areas of the city experienced rainfall this afternoon, while some parts received light showers last night as well as in the morning.

The rains also created problems for commuters as vehicular traffic was affected in many parts of the city.

The maximum was recorded at 36.4 deg Cel which is normal for this time of the year. The night temperature was 22.6 deg C.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the 300-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, connecting the Valley with the rest of the country, was closed for vehicular traffic due pieces of rocks falling from hilltops in the wake of landslides triggered by heavy rain in Ramban district.
The highway was closed at 1500 hours due to landslides caused by heavy rains in Panthal area, 180 kms from Jammu, Police Control Room officials told PTI. Due to closure of traffic, over 100 vehicles are stranded in Ramban.

Rains also lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana but it made farmers worried as wheat harvesting picks up in the two agrarian states.

Light showers drenched Chandigarh while neighbouring Ambala and Panchkula in Haryana also received light rain, according to MeT officials here.

Hisar received 4.2 mm of rain, Gurgaon 1 mm while Bhiwani and Kurukshetra also received showers. In Punjab, Amritsar received 4.6 mm of rain, Ludhiana 2.2 mm, Ropar 2 mm.

"The rain at early stage of wheat crop is beneficial, but rain and windy weather during these days can cause great damage to the ripe crop," Sukhdev Singh, a Jalandhar-based farmer, said.

With produce reaching various grain markets for procurement, rains at this stage can also increase the problems of storage, he said.

The weatherman said that change in weather was due to a Western Disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining areas.

In Uttarakhand, Dehra Dun and its adjoining areas were hit by hailstorm, causing damage to litchi and mango crops. The hailstorm for about 15-20 minutes this evening also brought down the temperature by 5 to 6 degrees.

According to the Weatherman, similar weather condition is likely to continue tomorrow.