The year’s first rain and snow in parts of north India on Friday lowered the temperature across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi and Rajasthan, defying usual post-Basant Panchami weather trends.
Rajasthan’s only hill station, Mount Abu, has also come in the cold wave’s grip, recording its coldest and most bone-chilling day of the current winter season on Saturday. The minimum temperature at the popular tourist place reportedly plunged to a staggering minus 7 degrees Celsius today, marking the lowest reading this winter.
The extreme winter conditions have been marked with frost forming on grasslands and icy layers covering water bodies as temperatures have continued to dip sharply over the past few days. The severity of the cold was evident across the region as thick layers of ice formed on ponds and small water bodies.
A thick layer of frozen dew was also observed on grasslands in rural pockets of Mount Abu, including Salgaon and the Chand Mari firing range. The cold conditions persisted throughout the day, with biting winds adding to people’s discomfort. Tourists visiting Mount Abu for sightseeing have been taken by surprise at the extreme cold following Basant Panchami.
Uttarakhand also received the first snowfall of the year on Friday, which covered almost all the high-altitude areas of the state with a thick blanket of snow.
Also Read: Snow, rain end long dry spell in North India
Heavy snowfall occurred at various places in both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand, such as Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Auli, Mussoorie, Chakrata, Dhanaulti, and Munsiyari, while high-altitude areas like China Peak and Kilbury in Nainital, Dunagiri in Almora, and Tarkeshwar in Pauri were also covered with a blanket of snow.
Nainital city also experienced hailstorms along with rain. According to the Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature in Dehradun dropped to 14 degrees Celsius on Friday, which is 12 degrees Celsius lower than that on Thursday. Similarly, the maximum temperature in Mussoorie decreased by 11.5 degrees Celsius and in Mukteshwar by eight degrees Celsius compared to Thursday.
In the Uttarkashi district, due to snowfall in Barkot, Purola, and Mori, power lines near Raditop were damaged, causing a power outage.
The meteorological department has issued an ‘orange alert’ for snowfall in the higher reaches of the state and rain in the lower areas. Strong winds and hailstorms are also expected in some places.
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