Mussoorie is likely to receive the season’s maiden snowfall at the end of this month. To be precise, the queen of hills, which has remained shorn of snow for a couple of years to the despair of the residents and tourists alike, is likely to turn ‘white’ on January 29-30.
The weathermen further said that it might snow in Nainital, Dhanaulti and Auli rather heavily during the period. Heavy to very heavy rain-snowfall might occur in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts from January 29 morning and it would continue for the next 48 hours, as per the Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre.
Besides, light to moderate rainfall/snowfall has also been forecast for places located at the altitude of over 1,800-2,000 metres. Mercury is likely to dip by four to six degrees under the impact of the expected spell of snow/rain.
This might enthuse the tourists and others who have been waiting for the acme of the winter season for days on end, particularly since the days in December end when the mercury there plummeted to almost 0 degree Celsius. However, snowfall has remained elusive despite things brightening up its prospects for a number of times this winter.
Met director Vikram Singh said the weather would change due to a strong spell of western disturbances.
He said that the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to dip by four to six notches due to rain/snowfall for two days starting from January 29. He further said the minimum temperatures would plunge by two or three degrees in the first week of February.
Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre has forecast very light to light rain/snow at isolated places in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli on Thursday while dry weather has been forecast for the rest of the State the same day.
Fog/shallow fog is likely to appear at isolated places in the plains, especially in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts on Thursday.
Dehradun residents have witnessed cloudy sky interspersed with sunshine during the day hours on Wednesday. Mists are appearing in Dehradun too.
Singh informed that the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 20.7ºC and 7.0ºC in Dehradun while it was 12.6ºC and 3.2ºC in Tehri, 14.6ºC and 0.6 ºC in Mukteshwar and 22.2ºC and 1.9ºC in Pantnagar on Wednesday.
The weather forecast for Dehradun on Thursday is clear sky becoming partly cloudy as the day progresses. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 21ºC and 5ºC respectively in Dehradun.