Mussoorie receives season’s first snowfall

Hills in Uttarakhand have been covered in a blanket of snow. The first snowfall of season has fallen in Mussoorie. The tourists have started coming here. Apart from Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, there was heavy snowfall in Hemkund Sahib, while the rain remained stagnant in the lower places. According to the department, there will be more snow and rain this week. In view of weather warnings, the district administration has declared holiday in schools in Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Tehri on Jan 22. The first snowfall of 2019 occurred in Mussoorie and surrounding areas of Dhanaulti, Surkanda, Nagtibba. The temperature in Mussoorie reached 2 degrees Celsius.

There were thick clouds in different places in the state since yesterday. The rain started in Dehradun, Haridwar, Mussoorie and Pauri since last evening, while there is snowfall in all four Dhams. Kedarnath has nearly one foot snowfall. Reconstruction works have also been affected due to snowfall. Nearly four hundred workers who were present there were confined in their tents throughout the day. There was snowfall in Uttarkashi’s Harsil valley and Daya Bugyal. According to the Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature was four to five degrees Celsius.

There has been continuous rain in Pauri from last night. The rain started from around 10 pm in Dehradun last halting briefly in the morning before continuing again. There are still thick clouds. At the same time, snowfall occured at Chakrata and nearby tourist places, which resulted in the increase in cold.

According to the State Meteorological Center, heavy snowfall in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh is expected. Apart from this, hail along with rain can fall in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital and Udhamsinghnagar. Bikram Singh, director of the Meteorological Center, said that there is Western disturbance in the state. This situation can last for about one week.