Rain and snow to continue over Vaishno Devi till tomorrow
Heavy rain and snow continued to lash the hills of North India. In last 24 hours as well, parts of Jammu and Kashmir have recorded hefty spells of rain and snow.
In a span of 24 hours, Banihal recorded a whopping of 139 mm of rainfall, followed by Gulmarg which recorded 66.4 mm and Kupwara 23.1 mm. Meanwhile, lower regions like Jammu and Srinagar also witnessed 48 mm and 20 mm of showers, respectively.
In fact, Katra near Vaishno Devi also observed heavy rain and thundershowers of 57 mm in last 24 hours. Moderate to heavy showers continued from Katra up to the holy shrine of North India, Vaishno Devi. Bouts of snow also engulfed the shrine.
Skymet Weather expects these weather conditions to continue over the area until January 27.
By January 28, the weather over the area is likely to clear up. However, landslides and avalanches cannot be ruled out. So for now, the pilgrims are advised to avoid visiting the shrine for few more days.
More rain & snow likely for Vaishno Devi, pilgrims advised to stay put
Looks like the weather gods showered their heart out last night when heavy rain and snowfall was recorded over the hills of North India. The higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir in particular have received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.
In the span of 24 hours, Banihal recorded a hefty spell of rain and snow of 52.4 mm, Gulmarg received 87.2 mm, Kupwara recorded 35.8 mm and lower regions like Jammu observed 6.1 mm of rainfall.
Even Katra near Vaishno Devi received rainfall of 13.8 mm in last 24 hours. For now the forecast shows that the region is likely to witness moderate to heavy rain spell with spell of snow in the higher reaches.
At present the temperatures in Vaishno Devi are low hence cold-day conditions will continue to persist. We expect the maximum temperatures to be around 12°C. The lower reaches of the region like Katra will get good spell of rains while chances of snowfall are confined to the higher reaches of Vaishno Devi.
With such heavy rain and snowfall in the offing, most roads leading to the holy shrine will be slippery. And for the similar reason, Jammu-Srinagar highway will be closed. With rain and snow in offing, pilgrims are advised to stay put or avoid the holy shrine for next couple of days.
With minor breaks in between, snowfall over the hills of North India has been occurring since the start of January. With hardly any snow observed over the hills of North India last year, this year snowfall has been tremendous with beautiful scenic views.
Even the holy shrine of North India, Vaishno Devi, has been engulfed in hefty snowfall intermittently throughout January. At present, another hefty spell of snowfall is expected to lash to the region from tonight. This weather activity is expected to be the heaviest spell of the season.
This hefty dropping of snow will most likely disrupt the Jammu-Srinagar highway making it difficult for the pilgrims to reach or leave the holy shrine on time.
Also Read: Snowfall in Vaishno Devi, delight for pilgrims (IN PICS)
At present, Vaishno Devi is witnessing light rainfall with occasional thundering. This rain activity will continue over the area till evening. Thereafter snowfall can be seen over the region. The current temperature of Vaishno Devi is recorded at a warm 13°C which is not allowing the snowfall to happen as of now. But as soon as the sun goes down then snowfall may happen.
Pilgrims are advised to avoid the hilly reaches post the snowfall as the chances are ideal for an avalanche to happen.
Image Credit: Twitter
Please Note: Any information picked from here must be attributed to skymetweather.com
