Heavy snowfall threw normal life out of gear in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Intermittent snowfall coupled with sleet and rain cut off several areas in Himachal Pradesh from rest of the stateand forced suspension of vehicular traffic. The Hindustan-Tibet national highway was closed beyondSanjauli near Shimla due to heavy snowfall, which also cut off road communication in the entire area beyond Manali in Kullu. A large number of vehicles are stranded between Dhalli, Kufri, Narkanda and Kingal as the road is covered under 45 to 60 cm of snow. The flights between Shimla, Kullu and Delhi were also suspended due to foggy conditions. Rain coupled with sleet lashed the state capital Shimla, which also received snowfall later in the day. The minimumtemperature in the city hovered around freezing point. While Manali received 40 cm of snow, it was 100 cm in Keylong, 160 cm in Rohtang pass and 60 cm in Kufri. Mcleodganj near Dharamsala experienced second snowfall of the season with the town receiving 20 cm snow. Vehicular traffic was badly disrupted in mid and lower hills where heavy fog reduced the visibility to a few metres. Heavy rains accompanied by high velocity icy winds lashed lower hills, further aggravating the cold conditions. Bangana was the wettest in the region with 50 mm rain. Cold tightened its grip in Uttarakhand with the higher reaches receiving heavy snowfall. There was heavy snowfall in Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayasincluding Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Auli, Nandadevi, Munsyari and Dharchula. Rainfall coupled with hailstorm in lower hills and plain areas intensified the cold conditions in the state. The state capital Dehra Dun, which also received a hailstorm followed by rainfall, recorded a maximum temperature of 14 degree C, four notches below normal. Delhi's tryst with pleasant weather ended by the evening yesterday with cold winds returned to the city. Met Department has predicted shallow fog and chilly winds during the day time in the national capital today. Though chill persisted in most parts of Uttar Pradesh, a bright sun in the morning gave some respite to the people from the biting cold yesterday. Lucknow recorded a maximum temperature of 10 deg C, while Varanasi recorded 11 deg C. Fatehgarh at minimum 5.7 deg C was the coldest place in the state. Cold conditions eased in Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 12.7 deg C, 7 notches above normal. In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 12.3 deg C, six degrees above normal. Hisar settled at minimum 9.1 deg C followed by Karnal at 11 deg C and Narnaul at 8.5 deg C. In Punjab, Amritsar saw minimum temperature going up by 7 points to settle at 9.6 deg C, while Ludhiana and Patiala registered 9 deg C and 9.8 deg C respectively. The 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, only surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country, remained closed for the second consecutive day due to heavy snowfall at two stretches. Over 400 vehicles remained stranded on the road. A heavy blanket of fog enveloped Jammu — which is reeling under chilly winds — disrupting air, rail and road services. Bikaner at minimum 5 deg C was the coldest place in Rajasthan. Churu recorded a low of 6.2 deg C and Jaipur 10.7 deg C. Flight operations at Kolkata airport were disrupted due to heavy fog. No flights could take off or land till 8 am due to poor visibility.