Rain might mar the maiden two-day visit of the President Ram Nath Kovind to Uttarakhand as the Met department warned of heavy to very heavy shower at a few places and extremely heavy shower at isolated places across the State, particularly in Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital, US Nagar, Pithoragarh, Champawat and Pauri districts during the next 24 hours.
Monsoon remaining active, rain lashed many parts of the state, including Dehradun, on Friday. The hot and humid spell that continued for some days ended as the maximum temperature dipped following the shower. In the capital, the maximum temperature dipped by two degree Celsius. The maximum temperature was 28.1 degree Celsius (two notches below the normal) in Dehradun while the minimum was 22.6 degree Celsius (one notch above the normal) in the city on Friday. Dehradun saw cloudy sky during the morning hours on Friday and it rained at noon.
Uttarakhand Meteorological centre director Bikram Singh said that monsoon was normal in the State on Friday. Moderate to rather heavy rainfall was reported from Garhwal division and other parts of the State. By 8:30 am on Friday, 60 mm rainfall was reported in Ukhimath, 40 mm each in Kotdwar and lansdowne, 30 mm each in Rudraprayag, Barkot and Jakholi, 15.1 mm in Dehradun, 3.2 mm in New Tehri, 8.6 mm in Mukteshwar and 1.4 mm in Pantnagar. The highest maximum temperature of the State 33.2°C was recorded at Pantnagar on Friday, he added.
Singh further said that the weather forecast for Uttarakhand on Saturday is generally cloudy sky with possibility of light to moderate rain/thunderstorm at most places across the State. The weather forecast for Dehradun on Saturday is generally cloudy to overcast sky with likelihood of a few spells of rain/thunder showers in some areas. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 29 degree Celsius and 21 degree Celsius respectively in the city on Saturday, he added.