Higher reaches of Uttarakhand receive season's first snowfall

Places located above 3000 metres in Uttarakhand's Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts including the four Himalayan shrines received the season's first snowfall on Christmas.

Dehradun, Dec 25: Uttarakhand received the season's first snowfall on Christmas on Sunday while the lower areas were lashed by moderate showers causing a sharp dip in temperatures across the state. Places located above 3000 metres in Uttarakhand's Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts including the four Himalayan shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath received the season's first snowfall.

The plains including Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and adjoining areas were swept by icy winds and light drizzle, Director of the MeT office Bikram Singh said.

Yamunotri, Gangotri, Harkidoon, Radi and Baukh Dibba received heavy snowfall, their first spell this winter. The mercury dropped by 6 notches in the hills while it came down by 3 degrees Celsius in the plains, he said. The maximum temperature was recorded by Mukteshwar at 9.2 degrees Celsius, 6 degrees Celsius lower than Saturday's 15.2 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

Dehradun in the plains recorded a maximum temperature of 21.7 degrees Celsius, 3 notches lower than yesterday's 24.6 degrees, he said. The snowfall and rainfall, which was eagerly awaited by farmers in the hills, have ended the dry cold spell and are good for the apple and walnut crops, he said.

Overcast conditions prevailed in Dehradun throughout the day which made way for icy winds. The plain areas of Uttarakhand are likely to be enveloped in a thick pall of fog tomorrow, the MeT office said.

PTI