Nainital, the beautiful lake city in Uttarakhand has been one of the most sought destinations during winters to enjoy snowfall. It is in December when tourists flock in to witness snowfall in the mountains as well as over the lake city. New year celebrations draw a lot of these tourists towards the end of the year. But the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted lesser snowfall this year in Nainital and its surrounding areas other than the high hills at higher altitudes.
The reason behind less snowfall, cited by IMD, is the absence of strong Western Disturbance (moist and warmer winds originating in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Sea) during the last days of December.
Skymet weather also anticipates cool and dry weather conditions over Nainital during the next ten days. The Western Disturbance, which is expected over Jammu & Kashmir at the start of next week, would not bring snowfall in Nainital. By that time the minimum temperature would have drop to around 4 degrees. Wind penetrations would be stronger leading to sharp cold weather.
Another Western Disturbance is expected on December 30 but even this one is feeble and would not give snowfall in Nainital. The higher altitudes would receive snowfall and rain during New Years Eve, Skymet weather forecasts.
But that should not disappoint tourists, as there are enough scenic attractions in Nainital during this time of the year. The New Years Eve may have cloudy to partly cloudy weather with a few spells of rain. Melting snows in the mountains would increase chill during the start of the year in Nainital. So far, the city received its first snowfall of the year on December 11 and it continued till December 15.
