light to moderate rainfall accompanied by snow in the higher reaches and in isolated places in the plains of the State on Friday has brought maximum temperature down by around nine notches, while the minimum has gained by five notches.
Reports revealed that it snowed in the higher altitude areas like Auli, Tapovan, Malari, Joshimath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, lincholi, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag, aside from Kailash Mansarovar route.
More is in store as Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre has forecast heavy to very heavy snowfall at isolated places located at altitude of over 3000M in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts during the next 36 hours. Hail/squall may occur at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital and US Nagar districts during the next 12 hours, said Met officer Bikram Singh.
Attributing this to western disturbances and cyclonic circulation over Haryana and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh, he added that things would start clearing from Saturday evening.
The weather forecast for Dehradun on Saturday is partly to generally cloudy sky.
Thunder cloud development may occur in some areas. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 19°C and 10°C respectively on Saturday in Dehradun.
The forecast for Uttarakhand on Saturday is very light to light rain/snow at isolated places especially in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.
The much- awaited snowfall in the mountainous parts and rainfall in the plains have been reported on Friday from across the state.
Day temperature dipped by many degrees, resulting in the advent of bone-chilling winter the people had been eagerly waiting for. This snowy and rainy spells are deemed beneficial for people involved in horticulture and agriculture.
On the flip side, incessant rainfall in Dehradun-over around 7.6 mm recorded by Friday evening- has disrupted normal life.
The maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 14.6 and 12.9 degree Celsius receptively in Dehradun on Friday while 9 and 5.5 degree Celsius in Tehri, 7.4 and 5.6 degree in Mukteshwar and 23 and 10.2 degree in Udham Singh Nagar.
Around 9.2 mm rainfall was recorded in Tehri, 1.2 mm in Mukteshwar, 8 mm in Ranichauri, 6 mm in Ghansali, 22 mm in Tiuni and 13 mm in Uttarkashi.
In the capital city, the difference between the maximum and minimum narrowed considerably with the former having plummeted by around nine degrees. On Thursday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded 23.5°C and 9.4°C respectively in Dehradun while they hovered in the neighbourhood of 12 and14 degrees on Friday.
Doon residents woke up on Friday to cloudy sky followed by rains accompanied by lightning, thunder and hail.The drizzle which often turned into heavy shower happened throughout the day. The residents were seen protecting themselves with heavy woolens to beat the cold.
However, the rains spawned problems for the daily wagers who found it difficult to manage works on the rain-swept day. The same was the story with the roadside vendors who had fewer customers as compared to normal days.
The tea stalls were found with people swarming them.
However, the elderly chose to keep themselves indoors with the cold turning biting. Roads being slippery, those driving cars or two-wheelers faced problems. In Dehradun district, no report of road blocks has been reported due to rain- triggered landslides as these happen on such occasions.
Braving the rain, several organisations, including Chay Bagan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (CBBSS), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, took out rallies in support of their respective demands in the city on Friday.
Congress activists, however, left the stir site when it rained heavily, seeking cover against the pelting drops.
The residents of Mussoorie also witnessed drizzling throughout the day, though they are yet to have this season’s first spell of snowfall.