Mercury dips as snow and rain lash state

Residents in the many towns shivered as rains lashed the state after almost a month of complete dry spell.

Snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand and a significant spell of rain across many places brought down the mercury in the mountain state on Tuesday.

Chakrata covered in sheets of snow on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

Residents in the many towns, including in the state capital, shivered as rains lashed the state after almost a month of complete dry spell. The hills of Chakrata area in the Dehradun district got covered in sheets of snow as farmers in the belt known for its apples, took a sigh of relief.

The Dehradun Meteorological Centre, meanwhile, predicted “very light to light rain and snow” at isolated places in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand on Wednesday.

“The likelihood of the wet spell is higher especially in Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts. Snowfall likely to occur at places with height 3,000 meters and above,” said Bikram Singh, director of Dehradun MeT Centre.

The weatherman has also predicted hailstorm at isolated places in the lower reaches of Uttarakhand – especially in Chakarata, Mussoorie, New Tehri, Nainital, Mukteshwar and Pithoragarh areas during the early hours of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, looking at the possibility of rain and hailstorm, Dehradun district magistrate SA Murugesan declared a one-day off for classes 1 to 12 in all government and private schools on Wednesday. Dry weather is likely to prevail for the next three days after January 24.