Hills and plains across North India have experienced fairly widespread weather activity during the last 24 hours. Mid and higher reaches of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rain and snow covering Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Shimla, Manali, Mandi, Dalhousie and Dharmsala. Plains of Punjab and Haryana including Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Chandigarh, Karnal, Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak, Kurukshetra and Panipat witnessed light to moderate rain and thundershower during this period. The national capital Delhi also had the first showers of February with base observatory Safdarjung and Palam airport recording 0.5mm and 0.8mm rainfall respectively.
Courtesy western disturbance over Jammu & Kashmir and an induced cyclonic circulation over North Rajasthan and Haryana, the wet spell covered a large area simultaneously. This weather activity will continue today with a break for a few hours during the day and resume again later. As expected cold wave has abated and minimum temperatures have shot up to double-digit at most places including Amritsar, Chandigarh, Ambala and Delhi.
The weather will start clearing tomorrow early in the day commencing from Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab first and later vacating most parts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Delhi possibly will observe sunshine a little later during the day. In the wake of the system, dry and cold northwesterly winds from the snow-capped mountains will again sweep the plains of Punjab, Haryana and extend to Delhi and even beyond to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. A sharp drop in the night temperature of 4-6°C is expected from 6th February morning and continue for the next 3-4 days. Thick fog is likely to make a comeback and cold wave conditions are quite likely in some areas. Next week is expected to remain free from any other significant weather activity.
