Fresh western disturbance is approaching Jammu and Kashmir on 18th November and will affect weather for 48 hours over the entire hilly region of North India. Another round of snowfall is expected over the mid and higher reaches and rainfall in the lower ones and foothills on 18th and 19th November. Partial clearance is expected in the subsequent 48 hours and may be followed by another spell of weather activity.
The last western disturbance on 14th and 15th November resulted in fairly widespread snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttrakhand. Moderate to heavy snow led to the closure of highways between Jammu-Srinagar, Shopian-Punchh, and Srinagar-Leh along with blockage of arterial roads in the other region. In the wake of this system, the temperatures plunged 6-10°C below normal resulting cold day conditions at many places. Srinagar and Katra recorded day temperature of about 10°C which was 6° and 7°C below normal respectively. The famous town of Bhaderwah measured temperature 10°C below the normal. While Manali went down to 11°C below normal, Keylong observed sub-zero temperature of -0.8°C about 10°C below normal. Mussorie also shivered with the single-digit temperature running 6-7°C below the average.
Intense cold is likely to continue across the region and the cold wave along with cold day conditions may also grip the area during the week. Weather activity is likely to spill over to the next week with another western disturbance moving in quick succession from 22nd November onward. The plains of North India will be spared from any significant rainfall activity but the night temperatures are going to dip to single digit at few places during the week.
