Cold sunny day in North but mercury above 35 in parts of South

    New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) It was a sunny and cold day in most of north India on Thursday, but several places in the west coast states of Kerala and Karnataka had their maximum temperatures settling above 35 degrees Celsius.
    According to the India India Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature at Karnataka's Mangaluru was 39 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 22. The IMD said Karwar's maximum was 38 degrees Celsius and minimum 23.
    In neighbouring Kerala, Kottayam's maximum was 37 degrees Celsius, while its minimum was 23 degrees Celsius. State capital Thiruvananthapuram recorded a maximum of 34 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 26 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
    Other places in Kerala with their maximums at 35 or beyond were Alapuzha (36), kozhikode (36) Punalur (35).
    Private weather forecasting agency Skymet said, "The entire West coast of India comprising the states of Kerala and Karnataka has been witnessing a gradual rise in the day temperatures for the last three days now. In fact, one or two pockets have recorded all-time high temperature for the month of January already."
    It said the reason for the exceptionally high temperature is the easterly and southeasterly inland winds which are blowing until late afternoon.
    "Summer-like situation has arrived on the West Coast in the month of January itself," it said.
    Meanwhile, in the national capital, it was a clear and pleasant morning with the minimum temperature settling at 9 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season's average.
    "The skies will remain clear and the maximum temperature is expected to settle at 18 degrees Celsius," it said.
    Up in Jammu and Kashmir, the Valley continued to experience sub-zero minimum temperature, which dropped further from the previous night at most places. Gulmarg and a few other areas in the higher reaches experienced fresh light snowfall overnight.    The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 0.5 degree Celsius – slightly up from minus 0.4 degree Celsius on Wednesday.
    Pahalgam was the coldest recorded place in the Kashmir Valley, the official added.
    Gulmarg registered a minimum of minus 11.2 degrees Celsius – a drop of over three notches from minus 8 degrees Celsius the previous night.
    Leh in Ladakh Union Territory recorded a low of minus 18 degrees Celsius.
    Meanwhile, one-way traffic resumed on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Thursday after remaining suspended for the past two days due to snowfall and multiple landslides in Ramban sector.
    The traffic on the highway was allowed from Srinagar to Jammu this morning after the road was cleared of snow and landslide debris, he said.
     Cold weather conditions prevailed in most places in Punjab and Haryana also, with minimum temperatures remaining below normal limits.
    Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 6.7 degrees Celsius, a Meteorological Department report said here.
    In Punjab, Amritsar reeled at a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius, while Patiala registered a low of 7.5 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana recorded a minimum of 7.5 degrees Celsius.
    Narnaul in Haryana experienced a cold night at 4.7 degrees Celsius while biting chill prevailed in Hisar, which recorded a low of 5.8 degrees Celsius.
    The minimum temperature in Ambala settled at 6.5 degrees Celsius while Karnal recorded a low of 6.2 degrees Celsius.
    The weather remained dry and cold in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday with tourist hotspots Kufri and Manali reeling under sub-zero temperature, the Meteorological (MeT) Department said.
    The minimum and maximum temperatures in the state were 1 to 2 degrees Celsius below normal.
     Tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong was the coldest place in the state at minus 14.7 degrees Celsius, Shimla MeT centre Director Manmohan Singh said.
     Kinnaur's Kalpa recorded a low of minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali (minus 4.2) and Kufri (minus 3.8 degrees Celsius). PTI TEAM TIR
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)