Intense winters have gripped the northern hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Minimums had already hit the sub-zero mark owing to the early snowfall in November. Famous tourist attractions like Srinagar and Manali had recorded their minimums as low as 0 degree Celcius on November 13 and 29 respectively.
The passage of multiple Western Disturbances in the month of November set up a pace for Winters. In fact, increased frequency of Western Himalayas in December intensified the winter chill, with minimums plunging further.
According to our meteorologists, minimums reaching zero or sub-zero degrees, is not something unusual for the hills during this time of the year. But, it is the falling day temperatures that play a major role in setting up cold day conditions. December sees maximums falling to single digits in the range of 8 to 10 degree Celsius, which is considered normal.
At present also an active and one of the most intense Western Disturbances is giving heavy rain and snow. With this, mercury during the day is most likely to dip to 5 degrees or even beyond. The system would continue to give widespread rain and snow for another 48 hours. Even after its passage, the remnants of the system along with other feeble Western Disturbances would keep on triggering rain and snow activities.
In the wake of increased snowfall, famous tourist places like Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Manali, Shimla, Kufri, Kothi and Gulaba would record their maximums as low as 5 degrees during the next three days.
Just like day temperatures, minimums too would remain on the much lower side. The diurnal variation i.e the difference between day and night temperature would be narrowed to 5 degrees or even less. Dense fog might surround the region with day turning extremely cold followed by extremely chilly nights.
Image Credits – DNA India
Any information taken from here should be credited to Skymet Weather
