Western Disturbance that had been affecting North India, has given good widespread snow and rainfall during the last couple of days in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
On Wednesday, Dharamsala received its season's first snowfall. Meanwhile, Srinagar remains devoid of any snowfall and will have to wait for the next spell, which is approaching very shortly.
At present, the system has now moved away. On January 14, the affect of weather system was more widespread. However, on January 13, it was more confined to higher reaches of the hilly states. According to Skymet Meteorology Division, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed moderate snowfall with light rain but Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand reported good amount of snowfall and rain.
In a span of last 24 hours, Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh recorded 24.2 mm of rain, Manali 12.5 mm and Shimla 7.5 mm. In Jammu and Kashmir, Bhaderwah received 4.4 mm of rain, Jammu 2.4 mm, Kukarnag 1.2 mm, Banihal 1 mm, Katra 0.8 mm and Pahalgam 0.6 mm.
In view of the system, the maximum temperatures in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have dropped significantly and are settling way too below normal. However, as the system moves, day temperatures will crawl back to normal in next 48 hours
On Thursday morning, Chamba recorded maximum of 8.9°C, which is 11 degrees below normal, Manali 2°C, eight degrees below normal, Bilaspur 12.6°C, seven degrees below normal, and Shimla 4.6°C, five degrees below normal.
In Uttarkhand, Panthnagar witnessed maximum temperature at 17.4°C, three degrees below normal and Mukteshwar 6.5°C, which is again five degrees below normal.
As per the forecast by Skymet, an active Western Disturbance will be approaching North India by January 20, which will give a long spell of widespread snow and rain over the region.
Western Disturbances become frequent during winters and are responsible for affecting the weather in the region to a large extent. These systems after approaching the region usually stay for 1-2 days and give short spells of rain. The system is called Western Disturbance due to its movement from west to east.
