Snowfall in Uttarakhand
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
From Jammu and Kashmir to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the hilly areas of the Northeast, there was heavy rain and snowfall on Saturday. There has also been fresh snowfall around the Atal Tunnel located at an altitude of about 10,000 feet in Himachal. Due to inclement weather caused by rain and snowfall, traffic on 172 roads in Himachal has been closed. There has been rain along with storm and thunder in various areas of Punjab and Haryana, due to which there is a possibility of huge damage to wheat crops. According to the Meteorological Department, this change in weather patterns will continue for two to three days. However, in some areas its intensity will reduce from Sunday.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Madhya Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi also witnessed strong winds and rain along with thunderstorms at some places. At the same time, heat was felt at night in East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Central Maharashtra and Marathwada. Heat wave-like conditions also persisted in some areas of Madhya Pradesh and Western Rajasthan. According to IMD, the weather is expected to improve in northwest, central and eastern India from Sunday. That means there will be relief from rain and storm conditions. Rains and thunderstorms may continue in Northeast India till April 1. Central and Peninsular India will experience extreme heat both day and night for the next three to five days.
Three killed, 19 vehicles damaged in storm in Himachal
In Kangra, Himachal, a grandmother died after being hit by an electric wire that had fallen in a field, and in Una, a girl died due to a tree falling on her. 19 vehicles were damaged due to the storm. The roofs of ten houses were blown away. The local meteorological center located in Shimla has predicted rain in Himachal Pradesh till April 4. During this period, there may be snowfall in the higher reaches of the state and thunderstorm conditions may occur in the valley and plains. On Saturday also, heavy rain and snowfall was recorded in the entire state and strong winds also blew, due to which 172 roads including the National Highway had to be closed.
The Meteorological Department had already issued an orange alert regarding storm and rain in seven out of 12 districts of the state. The traffic police has issued an advisory for the tourists coming to Lahaul Spiti and asked them to avoid traffic on the Leh-Manali Highway from the south end of Atal Tunnel to Solang Nala.
Rainfall up to 15 mm in Punjab-Haryana
Torrential rains were recorded in various areas of Punjab and Haryana in the last 24 hours. Ludhiana and Amritsar in Punjab recorded 15.4 mm and 4.2 mm rainfall respectively. Two mm rainfall was recorded in Patiala, one mm in Pathankot, 7 mm in Bathinda and 4.8 mm in Faridkot. Union Territory Chandigarh and Ambala in Haryana received 8.6 and 5.6 mm rainfall respectively. There is a possibility of storm and rain affecting the wheat crop. The wheat procurement season starts from April 1 in both the states.
Heavy snowfall in Gulmarg-Pahalgam
There has been rain with heavy snowfall in many areas of Jammu and Kashmir including Gulmarg and Pahalgam. This has provided some relief from the heat. Major ski resort Gulmarg received snowfall on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. At the same time, snowfall occurred in Pahalgam in Anantnag district of South Kashmir and Gurez in North Kashmir in the early hours of Saturday. Up to three inches of snowfall has been recorded in these areas. There has also been fresh snowfall in Dras town located on the Srinagar-Leh highway in Ladakh. Heavy rains started in the plains of Kashmir valley including Srinagar from Friday night itself which continued till Saturday morning.
