Heavy rains and snowfall triggered by a western disturbance lashed several areas in north India, including Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, affecting road traffic.

High altitude regions in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand received fresh snowfall on Tuesday disrupting vehicular traffic on scores of lateral roads across the state.

The met office’s weather forecast predicts heavy to very heavy rain and snow at isolated places is very likely over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and heavy rain/snow over Uttarakhand.

It added that heavy rain at isolated places is very likely over Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi. It also said a hailstorm is also very likely over Jammu division, lower regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, northwest Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan.

The MeT Centre in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow has forecast that rain and thundershowers with gusty winds very likely to occur on Tuesday at some places over Hardoi, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Meerut, Hapur, Shamli, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad and adjoining areas.

“A cyclonic circulation has already formed over Rajasthan because of an approaching western disturbance. This is expected to trigger rain across the plains of northwest India, including Delhi, from the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday,” BP Yadav, deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said.

Rush hour jam in Delhi

Commuters were caught up in traffic jams in several places across Delhi as heavy rains and hailstorms hit the national capital and its neighbouring areas during rush hour on Tuesday morning.

Delhi Traffic Police tweeted advisories asking commuters to avoid stretches as waterlogging was reported in several areas including Mathura Road, Ashram Chowk, Moolchand underpass, Bihari Colony, Chhatrasal Stadium and Savitri Cinema area in Greater Kailash Part 2.

As traffic jams were reported in the national capital, airlines such as Vistara asked its passengers to travel to the airport accordingly.

“Due to rain, there is traffic congestion enroute to Delhi airport road. Customers are advised to allow more time for their journey to the airport,” Vistara tweeted.

News agency ANI reported that at least 15 trains to the Capital were delayed due to fog and low visibility.

Hail storms were reported in areas like Subhash Nagar and Paschim Vihar in the morning in the city, which received rains throughout on Monday night. Some trees were also uprooted after the rains.

The rain and hailstorms caused a sharp dip in temperature in parts of Delhi and its neighbouring areas as well.

The minimum temperature recorded was at 11.5 degrees Celsius, which was four notches more than the season’s average. On the other hand, the maximum temperature was at 22.6 degrees Celsius, which was a notch more than the season’s average.

An IMD official said the night temperature is expected to rise while the days are expected to get colder with the rain.

“By Tuesday, the night temperature could go up to 10°C while the day temperature could drop to around 20°C,” the official said.

Snowfall, avalanche in Kashmir

The national highway connecting Jammu and Srinagar was closed on Tuesday following landslides and snowfall and reports of an avalanche hitting the highway in the Jawahar Tunnel area. A team has been rushed to take stock.

Traffic department officials said landslides have hit the strategic highway at some places in the Ramban district, including Digdol, Panthal, Magarkote and Khoni Nallah.

“There has been fresh snowfall in Bannihal sector. Incessant rains are continuing in other parts of the highway. This is the second consecutive day of the highway remaining closed,” a traffic official said, according to PTI.

“No vehicular movement will be allowed on the highway today. Landslide clearance will be started only after the weather improves,” the official said.

Himachal, Uttarakhand covered in snow

Higher reaches of Uttarakhand also received heavy snowfall on Tuesday morning and the plains witnessed rains as predicted by the weather office.

Snowfall capped high altitude areas including all the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Meanwhile, Pithoragarh and Mussoorie too received snowfall. There was heavy rainfall in plain districts including Dehradun since 3am.

Snowfall was reported in Lal Tibba in the popular tourist town of Mussoorie and Mall Road too was covered with snow delighting visitors.

Similar situations prevailed in Pithoragarh and the upper Himalayan valleys Johar, Darma and Vyans on Indo-China border were cut off. Uttarkashi and other areas too received snowfall.

Bikram Singh, director MeT Dehradun, said rain and snowfall will continue until Wednesday morning and thereafter, the weather will become clear. “There’s some weather activity on January 25 as well but it would result in snowfall,” he said.

Dehradun district declared a holiday on Tuesday due to the weather warning.

Vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla was affected due to the snowfall beyond tourist spot Charabara, which recorded 8 centimetres of snow. Shimla had witnessed intermittent snow spell since Monday night and recorded five centimetres of snow.

The tourist resort of Manali recorded five centimetres of snow while Dalhousie experienced intermittent rain spell. The night temperature in Dalhousie fell to -1.8 degree Celsius.

Narkanda, another tourist town, received more than eight centimetres of snowfall and the traffic to the upper regions of Shimla district was suspended following 10 centimetres of snowfall at Kharapathar.

The National Highway 5 connecting Ferozepur in Punjab to Shipkila a border point in Kinnaur district was open for traffic but the vehicular movement was hampered due to slippery road conditions.

There was a drop in minimum temperature in Shimla town as it recorded 0.7 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature at 12.7 degrees Celcius. Kalpa, the district headquarter of Kinnaur, recorded 7.5 centimetres of snow – the minimum temperature dropped to -2.7 and the maximum was recorded at 4.2 degree Celsius.

Tourists in Shimla enjoyed the snowfall at the ridge in the morning. “It’s pleasure to witness snowfall in Shimla,” Ravinder Kumar, who had reached the town from Delhi on Monday evening, said.

Officials with the agriculture department said that the rains will be beneficial for the winter crops.

“The snowfall will help in maintaining the low temperature for breaking the dormancy in the apple plants,” farmer Ravinder Chauhan said.

While higher mountainous regions experienced snowfall, the lower regions of the state were lashed with rains.

Dharamshala received a maximum of 47.4 millimetres of rain and Kangra town recorded 39.6 millimetres. Palampur, a town known for its tea plantation, recorded 32 millimetres of rains. Sundernagar, Mandi Hamirpur and Chamba were also lashed by rains.

The meteorological office in Shimla predicted more snow and rain during the next 24 hours.

“An active western disturbance could bring more rains and snow in the state,” director of the meteorological office Dr Manmohan Singh said.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Jan 22, 2019 13:55 IST