Cold wave condition is likely to continue in Uttarakhand in the next 24 hours, as per the weather forecast issued by the regional meteorological department on Saturday. Dehradun is also reeling under the cold spell and the mercury is likely to fall in the coming days. The maximum temperature is dropping steadily, making the winter biting in the city.
In a fresh warning, the centre said that there would be no let-up in the cold wave condition presently sweeping across a large swathe of the plain areas of Uttarakhand in the next 24 hours.
Besides, there is a warning of moderate to dense fog forming in several places in the plains of the State, particularly, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, during the early morning hours on Sunday.
In a yellow watch warning issued on Saturday, the Met centre said that the cold wave condition would send a large part of the plain areas of the Himalayan State reeling under the freezing cold on Sunday. Besides, as per the warning, fog is likely to bring down visibility substantially during the morning hours on the day.
As per the weather forecast issued for Saturday, the climate would be generally dry in the State, though clouds might cover the sky partly on Sunday. In Dehradun, dense fog/mist is likely to form in the plain areas in the early morning hours on the day and the sky would be partly cloudy. The two plain districts-Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar-are likely to wake up to foggy morning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the mercury in Dehradun continued to settle in the neighbourhood of 5 degree Celsius while the maximum is dipping to around 20 degree Celsius.
The mercury dipping in the hills, the possibility of the snowfall in the places with altitude of 2500 meters and above is brightening. Earlier, the Met department forecast snowfall from December 23 in the higher reaches of the hills. It further said that the queen of hills Mussoorie and the lake city Nainital might record fresh snowfall from December 28.
Meanwhile, Dehradun saw a generally sunny to partly cloudy day on Saturday. While the maximum temperature settled at 20.5 degree Celsius, normal, the minimum was 5.3 degree Celsius, one notch below the normal, on the day.
In other places of the State, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 20.9 degree Celsius and 2.5 degree Celsius respectively in Pantnagar on Saturday.
At Mukteshwar, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 16.6 degree Celsius and 3.1 degree Celsius. In New Tehri, the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded were 16.2 degree Celsius and 4.6 degree Celsius respectively on the day.