By India Today Web Desk: While Delhi’s minimum temperature has settled three notches above normal, bringing respite from the severe cold wave conditions, snowfall led to road blockages in various northern hill states.
The weather office has predicted light to moderate rainfall in various parts of northern India next week due to western cyclonic disturbances.
Strong surface winds are likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and west Uttar Pradesh on January 23 and 24, the weather office said.
They said northern India will get a respite from the cold wave for the next five days.
ALSO READ | Kashmir, Shimla receive fresh snowfall, Srinagar at -0.1 degrees
The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 10.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal and the highest in January so far, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The maximum temperature was recorded at 23.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, they said.
FLIGHTS DELAYED DUE TO FOG
As dense fog continued to affect visibility in Delhi, several flights had to be delayed at the Delhi airport on Saturday morning.
A passenger said, “I came from Punjab and I’m going to London. The flight was scheduled to depart at 10.50 am, it’ll now depart at 12.45 pm. I hope it doesn’t get cancelled altogether.”
SNOWFALL, RAIN IN HILL STATES OF NORTH INDIA
The hill states of northern India witnessed snowfall and light rain on Friday under the influence of a western disturbance, causing the closure of roads and impacting flight operations.
Snowfall and rain in various parts of Uttarakhand intensified the cold, adding to the woes of Joshimath residents, living in temporary relief camps.
Apart from Joshimath, located at a height of around 6,000 feet, many famous locations in the higher altitudes of Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts, including Badrinath, skiing destination Auli, Kedarnath, Hemkund Sahib, Nanda Devi National Park and the Valley of Flowers also witnessed snowfall, officials said.
ALSO READ | Season’s first snowfall in ‘sinking’ Joshimath brings fresh woes, demolition work halted
Of the 47 villages in the Chamoli district affected by snowfall, 19 are in the Ghat sub-division, 13 in Joshimath, eight in Gairsain and seven in the Chamoli sub-division, the District Disaster Management office said.
Dehradun also woke up to an early morning drizzle while Mussoorie, a popular tourist spot, received the season’s first snowfall. The plains in the state, including Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, were enveloped in fog.
Snowfall in the high-altitude areas continues and overcast conditions prevail in most of the places in the plains, officials said.
Dismantling of unsafe hotels and houses in Joshimath has been temporarily halted due to bad weather, Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana said.
According to officials, as many as 849 houses in Joshimath have developed cracks following land subsidence and 258 families have been moved to temporary relief centres.
Kashmir too witnessed fresh snowfall on Friday that led to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and impacted flight operations to and from the Valley.
Snowfall was recorded in the tourist towns of Pahalgam and Gulmarg, as well as in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Budgam, and the upper areas of Kupwara, Ganderbal, and Srinagar.
Traffic movement on both sides of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway — the all-weather road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country — was stopped due to snowfall and shooting stones between Ramban and Banihal, officials said.
Moreover, flight operations at the Srinagar airport were affected due to snowfall and low visibility, they added.
The meteorological office had forecast wet weather in Jammu and Kashmir from January 19 to 25 due to western disturbances. It said there were chances of light to moderate rain or snow in parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday and Saturday.
ALSO READ | Relief from biting cold expected in Delhi, heavy snowfall likely in parts of Himachal, J&K
The weather office predicted a much higher intensity of precipitation from January 23 to 25, with a possibility of moderate snow in the plains of Kashmir, and moderate to heavy snow over the middle and higher reaches and rains in Jammu.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai Kalan’, the 40-day harshest weather period when chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent. Chillai Kalan begins on December 21 and ends on January 30. The cold wave continues even after that with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai Khurd’ and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai Bachha’ following it.
The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh witnessed light to moderate snowfall while intermittent rains occurred across the state under the influence of western disturbances, leading to the closure of 278 roads.
National Highway 3 and 305 were blocked at Rohtang Pass and Jalori Pass, while the Gramphu to Lossar stretch of NH 505 was also closed. As many as 177 roads were closed for vehicular traffic in Lahaul and Spiti, 64 in Shimla, nine in Kinnaur, five in Chamba, three in Kullu and two each in Kangra and Sirmaur districts.
The local meteorological office has predicted a wet spell in the region till January 26 with light rain and snow at isolated places on January 21 and 22 and light to moderate snow at many places in mid and high hills on January 23.
The wet weather brought cheers to tourists and hoteliers as well as apple growers pinning their hopes for bumper produce.
President of Tourism Industry Stakeholders’ Association M K Seth said the occupancy in hotels is expected to rise from 30 to over 70 per cent by late Friday evening following fresh snowfall in the state capital and its suburbs.
COLD WAVE EASES IN PUNJAB, HARYANA
Minimum temperatures in most places of Haryana and Punjab on Friday registered a slight increase giving relief to people from severe cold weather conditions.
In Haryana, Ambala registered a low of 10 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature in Hisar settled at 9.1 degrees Celsius. Rohtak recorded a low of 11 degrees Celsius, Karnal 9.7 degrees Celsius, Sirsa 9.2 degrees Celsius and Kurukshetra 10.3 degrees Celsius.
However, cold conditions prevailed in Narnaul, which recorded a low of 7.5 degrees Celsius.
Punjab’s Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 10 degrees Celsius, Patiala 8.6 degrees Celsius, Pathankot 10.5 degrees Celsius, Faridkot 9.5 degrees Celsius and Mohali 9.4 degrees Celsius. Bathinda, on the other hand, experienced a cold night with a low of 7 degrees Celsius.
IMD PREDICTS RAIN ACROSS NORTH INDIA
According to IMD, light to moderate rainfall is expected in Delhi next week.
“Light isolated rain on January 23, light/moderate scattered to fairly widespread rain/thundershower is expected from January 24 to 27,” IMD has predicted for Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh.
“Another active western disturbance… is very likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of January 20 to 26 and the plains of northwest India from January 23 to 25,” the IMD has said.
Under its influence, light to moderate rain and snowfall is likely over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from January 20 to 22. The intensity and distribution are likely to increase between January 23 and 26.
