The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday forecasted a wet spell across north west, central and east India in the next 3-4 days as Delhi received light showers and moderate to heavy snowfall was reported in Kashmir and Sikkim.
Several parts of the national capital witnessed light rains on Sunday evening and the maximum temperature for the day settled at 21.4 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity recorded at 5.30 pm was 80 per cent and the minimum temperature settle at 9.8 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal.
Western disturbance, a cyclonic circulation over east Afghanistan and adjoining Pakistan, is likely to influence cyclonic circulation over southwest Rajasthan and its nearby regions at lower tropospheric levels.
“Light to moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall/snowfall very likely over Western Himalayan Region till December 28, light rainfall at isolated to scattered places very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Rajasthan till December 28, and scattered to fairly widespread over Uttar Pradesh during December 27 to 29,” the IMD forecast said.
Isolated thunderstorm, lightning, and hailstorm is also likely over wast and adjoining west Uttar Pradesh on December 28. Further, light to moderate, isolated to scattered rainfall is very likely over Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha area of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Gangetic West Bengal on December 28 and 29.
It further said the minimum temperatures are 2-4 degrees Celsius above normal average in many parts of northwest and adjoining central India and east India. They are near normal over the rest of the parts of central India.
Kashmir’s ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’
The minimum temperature at most places in Kashmir settled below the freezing point, even as the weather office forecast light to moderate snowfall at fairly widespread places over two days from Sunday, officials said. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, down from the previous night’s 1.7 degrees Celsius.
The MET Office has said a spell of rain and snow is most likely to occur over two days from Sunday. Light to moderate snowfall at scattered to fairly widespread places is likely to occur from Sunday evening to Monday morning, it said.
Kashmir valley is currently under the grip of the 40-day harshest winter period known as ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ which began on Tuesday. ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ is a period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies including the famous Dal Lake here as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.
The chances of snowfall are the most frequent and maximum during this period and most areas, especially in the higher reaches, receive heavy to very heavy snowfall. The ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ will end on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
Sikkim
Hundreds of tourists were stuck near the Changu Lake in Sikkim due to heavy snowfall, following which the Army began a rescue operation, officials said on Sunday. As the Jawaharlal Nehru Road closed due to the heavy snowfall on Saturday, hundreds of tourists got stuck near the Changu Lake, they said.
The Army rescued them and provided them shelted at their camp in the area during the night, officials said. As the weather conditions improved a bit on Sunday morning, the tourists were divided into small groups and Army personnel were guiding them to reach Gangtok, around 40 km away, on foot, officials said.
The rescue operations, which were underway till the last reports were received, are likely to continue till Monday as hundreds of tourists were visiting Tsongmo or Changu Lake, near India’s boundary with China, during the Christmas holidays. Among those stuck were around 250 people from different districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, officials said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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