Heavy snowfall likely in next 48 hours, Yellow alert issued; Delhi-NCR witness light rain

New Delhi, Feb 03: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert, warning of heavy snowfall in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh including popular tourist spots like Chamba, Spiti, Kullu, Shimla.

"The duration of snowfall was longer in comparison to previous years. The coming (next) 48 hours will be extremely cold with heavy snowfall," Surender Paul, the head of the IMD regional office in Himachal Pradesh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

As per a release issued by the IMD on Wednesday, there is a possibility of widespread light/moderate rain/snowfall in the Western Himalayan region till February 4. At the same time, isolated hailstorms may occur in Himachal Pradesh today and Uttarakhand on February 3 and 4. Apart from this, isolated heavy rain/snowfall may occur in Himachal Pradesh on February 3. In Uttarakhand too, this situation can be ready on February 3 and 4.

Meanwhile, Delhi woke up to moderate rains on Thursday morning with the minimum temperature recorded at 11 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average.

The weather department had predicted that the wind will blow at a speed of 20-30 kmph in the area.

The showers, to be brought about by a fresh Western Disturbance, are likely to trigger rain in Haryana and Punjab as well. The disturbance is also forecast to cause snowfall in the Himalayan region on the two days.

The IMD classifies rainfall between 2.5 mm and 15.5 mm as 'light', between 15.6 mm and 64.4mm as 'moderate', and over 64.5mm in a 24-hour period as 'heavy'.

Several parts of North India have been experiencing cold wave like conditions, but the temperature has increased marginally in the last few days.