The never-ending trail of western disturbances kept thronging entire hilly ranges of north India during January and February. All subdivisions ended up in large excess for the winter season. Mountains are not oblivious to snow during March, but impacting events like avalanches, blizzards, drifting snow and landslides get reduced in number and intensity as well. Watery precipitation becomes more dominant than the snowy flakes, across the region.
Records and archives may defy this March and an extended bout of snow is expected during the month. The long trail of western disturbance is lined up and seem like running a relay race. Weather systems are expected to move in quick succession with fleeting intermittent breaks. Sheet of snow will persist longer than normal, particularly for mid and higher reaches. This will also lead to the continuation of chill and prevalence of winter flavour for an extended duration. Hills and plains of north India, as such, have witnessed the coldest winter days this season ( Dec-Jan-Feb), since 1951-52.
Western disturbance has arrived today over north India and will last for 48hr. Snow in the mountains and light rain in the plains is expected. Brief clearance will precede the next system reaching on 05thMar. Weather conditions in the mountains will improve on 04thMar, before clamping down again between 05th and 07thMar. Moderate snowfall is expected over Kashmir Valley on 06thMar and scattered rain/snow elsewhere over the mountains. The next day, 08thMar will experience overlapping activity when this system will find an exit route and the fresh one knocks western parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. This wet spell will last for 3 days between 09th and 11th March, with weather activity more intense and large spread over Jammu & Kashmir, as compared to Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. Weather models are suggesting yet another disturbance between 12th and 16th March.
March is expected to follow the track of the winter months, with the increased amount of rain and snow. Mountain chill will slide across the slopes and spill over to the plains prolonging wintery flavour. Feel like temperatures are expected to drop further due to windy conditions, on many days. The month of March, for the northern plains including the national capital, may not heat up as much as normally expected, during 2nd fortnight of the month.
