The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NATION

Read under headings Max (maximum temperature), Min (minimum temperature), R (rainfall in past 24 hours) and TR (Total rain since June 1):

Station	Max	Min	R	TR
Ahmedabad	40	25	0	0
Bangalore	36	23	0	19
Baroda	—	25	0	0
Bhopal	41	25	0	3
Bhubaneswar	40	27	0	39
Bhuj	37	23	0	0
Chennai	36	27	0	15
Dehra Dun	35	23	0	51
Gangtok	23	15	0	366
Guwahati	25	21	10	296
Gaya	41	23	0	2
Hyderabad	39	27	0	35
Indore	40	23	0	0
Jaipur	39	27	0	1
Jamshedpur	41	27	0	70
Kolkata	36	27	0	89
Kolhapur	38	21	0	10
Lucknow	40	23	0	17
Mangalore	36	26	0	0
Mumbai	34	26	0	0
Nagpur	43	27	0	61
New Delhi	39	23	0	5
Patna	40	24	0	9
Pune	38	21	0	1
Rajkot	39	24	0	5
Ranchi	37	23	0	74
Shillong	—	15	0	90
Sholapur	39	27	0	47
Srinagar	21	09	11	224
Surat	34	23	0	0
Thiruvananthapuram	34	25	0	92
Visakhapatnam	36	29	0	24

Rain likely in Himachal, J&K
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 19
Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in Jammu and Kashmir and at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Weather was mainly dry in the rest of the region. Banihal, Quazigund and Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) each recorded 1 cm of rainfall.

Temperatures: past 24 hours’ change: Maximum temperatures rose appreciably in Uttaranchal, rose in Haryana and changed little elsewhere.

Departures: They were markedly above normal in Himachal Pradesh, appreciably above normal in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, east Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal and above normal in the rest of the region. The highest temperature in the region was 42.7°C recorded at Dholpur (Rajasthan).

Forecast valid until the morning of April 21: Rain or thundershowers will occur at many places in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, at a few places in Punjab and Uttaranchal and at isolated places in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Isolated duststorm/thunderstorm is likely in Rajasthan.

Forecast for Delhi and neighbourhood valid until the morning of April 21: Partly cloudy sky with possibility of duststorm/thunderstorm accompanied by squall in some areas. Maximum temperature will be around 39°C.

Farmers’ weather bulletin for Delhi: forecast valid until the morning of April 21: Duststorm/thunderstorm with light rain is likely at a few places. Squall with wind speed exceeding 65 km/h is likely at isolated places.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change.

Snow, rain in region

Chandigarh, April 19
The higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh and adjoining areas of Jammu and Kashmir experienced another spell of mild snowfall, while the mid and lower hills were lashed by had and rain today.

A 2.4 mm sharp rain in Chandigarh and adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana caught the people unawares, specially farmers. The harvested wheat crops were drenched. New wheat arrivals in grain markets were soaked and several low-lying areas were flooded.

The farmers were hard pressed to salvage their crops. The day temperature hovered around 30°C five degrees less than normal and against the highest of 38.2°C on April 15.

Hisar in Haryana, which had been reeling under hot weather conditions, had 0.4 mm of light rain overnight on the eve of the President’s visit.

Jammu reported 0.5 mm of rain till this morning. Srinagar remained dry.

Weathermen here attributed the sudden change in weather to western disturbances moving over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining areas of Pakistan. The system, they said, was likely to cause renewed spells of light to moderate rains at several places in Himachal Pradesh. Light to moderate rains at a few places in Haryana and Punjab were forecast for the next 48 hours. They have also warned of hail and thunderstorms and squalls exceeding 45 kmph during this period.

A report from Shimla said showers in the lower reaches caused a sharp fall in temperatures. It said high altitude areas it the districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Chamba had intermittent snowfall since the morning.

The snowfall on the 3915-m Rohtang pass, the gateway to Lahaul and Spiti district and Dhauladhar mountain ranges, plummeted the temperature in the twin valleys of Kulu and Kangra.

Shimla and its adjoining areas were lashed by hail and rain today. High velocity winds blew across Kufri, Naldehra and neighbouring areas, which also experienced rains. Shimla recorded 1.8 mm of rain while Kalpa recorded 2.6 mm and 0.6 mm.

Reports of rain were also received from Kangra, Kulu, Solan, Sirmaur, Chamba, Hamirpur and Mandi districts. UNI