The thunderstorm accompanied by rain that lashed some parts of Uttarakhand, including Dehradun, in the early morning of Saturday has brought some relief for the people grappling with the searing heat for the past many days. More is forecast by the weather department in the coming few days.
Hail along with strong winds lashed several areas of the state spread across both Garhwal and Kumaon regions. It is learnt that the storm with a speed of 70 to 80 km per hour that swept across the state damaged mango and litchi trees extensively.
Several trees were found uprooted while the roofs of many houses were blown away by the storm. Roads were blocked in many of the hill areas of the state after the storm uprooted trees.
Electricity snapped as the trees fell on the poles, resulting in disruption of power supply in many areas. Efforts were being made to restore the supply to the affected places, said the power department officials.
As per Met official, over the past 24 hours by 8.30 am on Saturday, 60 mm rainfall was reported in Munsiyari, 40 mm in Chamoli, 20 mm each in Haridwar and laksar, 7.0 mm in Dehradun, 1.4 mm in Tehri and 0.2 mm in Muktehsar.
Meteorological centre director Bikram Singh said on Saturday that rainy spell might continue for the next few days under the influence of the Western disturbances approaching the state. He said rain/thunder shower is likely to occur at a few places in Uttarakhand for three days from April 24.
While the maximum settled at 36.9ºC (three degree above the normal) and the minimum at 18.1ºC (normal) in Dehradun it was 27.0ºC (four degree above the normal) and 13.3ºC (four degree below the normal) in Mukteshwar and 35.6ºC (one degree below normal) and 25.0ºC (eight degree above the normal) in Pantnagar on Saturday. In Tehri district, maximum temperature was reported as 28.9 degree Celsius.
The weather forecast for Uttarakhand on Sunday is generally cloudy sky with possibility of light to moderate rain/thunder showers at some places.
Singh said the weather forecast for Sunday in Dehradun is mainly clear to partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain/thunder showers lashing some areas. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 34 degree Celsius and 18 degree Celsius respectively in the city on Sunday.