Winter rains are all set to drench North India on the occasion of country’s 68th Republic Day. According to Skymet Weather, the entire region will record fairly widespread rain and thundershower activities on January 26. While hilly states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will witness heavy to very heavy rain and snow, plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh will record moderate rain and thundershowers. According to Skymet Weather, a fresh and active Western Disturbance has started affecting Jammu and Kashmir. It has also induced a cyclonic circulation over Central Pakistan and adjoining areas of Punjab and Rajasthan. Both the systems have changed the wind pattern to warm and humid southeasterly winds, which has already increased the minimum temperatures by 3-5 degrees across the plains. Let us have a look at the weather conditions across hills and plains in span of next 2-3 days. Weather in northern hills: Light to moderate rain and snow had already started over several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 24. Even the low lying areas of the states such as Dharamsala, Nainital and Jammu had also started witnessing light rains.
By January 25, both the spread and intensity of the weather activity will increase significantly over these states. With this, we can expect widespread heavy to very heavy snowfall over the region on Wednesday. Moreover, the weather activity is likely to peak on January 26 and January 27. Famous Hindu Shrine of Vaishno Devi will also witness light to moderate rain and snow during this period, which could hamper the pilgrimage. Lower regions will also witness moderate with isolated heavy rains during the next 2-3 days. Weather on northern plains: Both the Western Disturbance and its induced cyclonic circulation are likely to gradually move eastwards. In wake of this, clouding had started appearing over parts of Punjab and adjoining areas of Haryana on Tuesday. Now, light to moderate rain and thundershowers will commence any time over most parts Punjab, Haryana and North Rajasthan on January 25. Few parts of Punjab may also witness one or two spells of hailstorm. In fact, some places in Punjab like Amritsar has already witnessing rain and thundershowers since early Wednesday morning. Delhi-NCR and West Uttar Pradesh will have to settle with light rains on Wednesday, that too will make appearance during the evening hours. Rain activity will pick up pace tremendously by January 26, wherein fairly widespread moderate to heavy rain and thundershowers will start lashing the entire northern plains. Squally winds are also expected to blow across the plains. Rains could also disrupt the Republic Day celebrations scheduled during the morning hours at Rajpath, India Gate, New Delhi. By January 27, weather systems are likely to clear away the region. This will lead to drop in rainfall activity on Friday but light rainfall will continue. The upcoming spell will also lead to a sharp in day temperatures but 3-5 degrees, leading to return of cold day conditions over few areas. Cold day conditions are observed when day maximums over the plains settle below 16°C. Image credit: www.tajmahal.gov.in Any information taken from here should be credited to skymetweather.com
