At a time when people in various parts of the State had started to pack away their heavy woollen clothing, widespread snowfall/rainfall was reported in the mountainous parts of the State over the past 24 hours on Sunday. Rainfall was also reported from Dehradun and some other parts in the plains. The temple township of Badrinath was covered in abour two feet snow while the winter sports destination of Auli was also covered by about half a foot of snow. The snowfall in the higher reaches has brought some relief especially to the cultivators of apples who were looking at a bleak future due to the deficient snowfall in the state this season. In the coming days, there is also probability of there being rain and snowfall in parts of the state on the occasion of Holi on March 2.
According to the meteorologists, a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect Western Himalayan region from February 28. Very light to light rain/snow is likely to occur at a few places in Uttarakhand on March 1. It might rain in the plains and in the mountainous regions of various districts of the state while snowfall could occur at the high-altitude places located at altitude of 3500 metres and above on March 2 on the occasion of Holi festival said the Uttarakhand meteorological centre director Bikram Singh, adding that the wet spell might continue for the next two days from March 1.
In Dehradun, rain along with thunder and lighting was reported on Saturday daytime and the night. The maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 26.5 degree Celsius, three notches above the normal, and 14.4 degree Celsius, six notches above the normal, respectively in Dehradun on Sunday. The highest maximum temperature in the state -- 32.7°C was recorded at Jaspur while lowest minimum temperature 6.9°C at Matela, Almora on Sunday. Singh said that the climate would turn dry on February 26 and the same would prevail for another few days. The maximum temperature is expected to rise by three or four degrees while the minimum temperature may dip at various places in the next few days, he added.
Singh said that very light to moderate rainfall occurred at most places in Uttarakhand over the past 24 hours on Sunday. About 30 mm rainfall was reported in Badkot, Bhatwadi, 20 mm in Tyuni, Dharchula, Jakholi, Dunda and Uttarkashi. Further, 10 mm rainfall was reported in Almora, Tehri, Ghansali, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Munsiyari, Didihat and Purola while 4.1 mm was recorded in Dehradun and 7.4 mm in Mukteshwar.
The weather forecast for Dehradun on Monday is mainly clear to partly cloudy sky. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 26 degree Celsius and 10 degree Celsius respectively in Dehradun on Monday. The weather forecast for Uttarakhand on Monday is partly to generally cloudy sky and very light to light rain/thunder showers /snowfall at isolated places located at altitude of 3500 metres and above in the mountainous districts. As per the weather report sent by the Met department, in Pantnagar, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 29.4 degree Celsius, four notches above the normal, and 14.2 degree Celsius, seven notches above the normal respectively. In Mukteshwar, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 16.0 degree Celsius, two notches above the normal, and 3.1 degree Celsius, one notch above the normal. In Tehri, the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded were 16.5 degree Celsius and 5.0 degree Celsius respectively on Sunday.