Hills of Western Himalayas have witnessed one of the heaviest snowfalls of the season during last 3 to 4 days. The series of Western disturbances which was affecting western Himalayas is now moving away. Few more Western disturbances will still approach Jammu and Kashmir but their intensity a will be feeble.
So much so that Shimla received its first snowfall of the season on Saturday. Also, Jakhoo, Ridge, Benmore, Sanjauli received snow. Popular resorts Kufri and Narkanda also had snow.
We expect moderate to heavy snowfall to continue over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during next 24 hours and intensity will reduce significantly thereafter. Light rain and snow are possible over Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Ladakh and Jammu Kashmir. Weather of Western Himalayas will get cleared up off by January 11 and we do not expect heavy snowfall to occur over Western Himalayas for at least next one week.
Punjab province of Pakistan has also witnessed heavy to very heavy snowfall during last few days. Unfortunately, 22 tourists have lost their lives in Muree in Pakistan due to heavy snowfall. According to the reports there was a massive traffic jam at the tourist destination of Muree. Many tourists were stuck in this jam in their vehicles overnight during a heavy snowstorm. More than 4 feet of Snow was reported.
Minimum temperatures of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh may drop and may reach below freezing point at many places in next 24 to 48 hours. Minimums of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh will start dropping from tomorrow.
