Rain with snowfall in higher reaches and rainfall in the plains of Uttarakhand brought the temperature down by few degrees Celsius from normal on Friday.
Prominent hill stations like Mussoorie, Dhanaulti and others received significant snowfall. Widespread rain was also experienced in lower areas of the state, said Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre director Anand Sharma. He attributed this to western disturbances and induced cyclonic circulation over Haryana and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh. The Met office has forecast light to moderate rain/snow at many places in Uttarakhand on Saturday. Rather heavy (more than moderate) rain/snow, accompanied by hail/squall could occur at isolated places especially in Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Nainital, Pithoragarh and Champawat districts. The weather is expected to improve from Monday, he added.
According to him, higher altitude places like Tapovan, Malari, Joshimath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Kailash Mansarovar route, Auli and other places might have received moderate to heavy snowfall on Friday. Dehradun received 15 mm rainfall while 10.8 mm rainfall was recorded in Mukteshwar, 8.0 mm in New Tehri, 1 mm in Pantnagar by 2 pm on Friday.
The rain with snowfall in higher reaches and rainfall in the plains have brought the maximum temperature down by around 11°C from normal. The incessant rain since Thursday night which continued till late in the evening has increased the chill due to which many people remained indoors. A holiday was declared on Friday on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti but despite this some persons remained indoors on the holiday. Various areas in State suffered water logging.
Sharma said that the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 11.6°C and 10.4°C respectively in Dehradun on Friday. The weather forecast for Dehradun on Saturday is partly cloudy sky and rain/thunder showers at isolated places. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 17°C and 08°C respectively on Saturday in Dehradun. The weather forecast for Uttarakhand is light to moderate rain/snow at many places.