Uttarakhand shivers amid snowfall, rains

Dehradun, Jan 7 (IANS) Uttarakhand continued to shiver under an intense cold wave as snowfall continued intermittently in the hill tracts on Monday, officials said.It has been snowing in Dhanaulti and Surkanda areas in Mussoorie since Saturday while heavy snowfall is also intermittently taking place in Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath valley.Due to the heavy snowfall and poor visibility the Yamunotri and Gangotri highways have closed, disrupting the communication to two dozen villages. According to the Regional Met Office, there can be rains and fresh snowfall at some places in Kumayun region on Monday.Fog has disrupted normal life in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar while places like Hemkund Saheb, Auli are completely covered in snow. The snow in the hill regions has also impacted weather in the plains and mercury has dropped in these places. The maximum temperature expected in Dehradun is 19.2 degrees celsius while the minimum was 6.6 degrees celsius.Mussoorie has recorded a minimum of 3.6 degrees while Uttarkashi is shivering at 3 degrees Celsius. Almorah district recorded a low of 2.3 degrees celsius while Mukteshwar had a low of 3.1 degrees celsius. Pithoragarh was the coldest with 1.4 degrees celsius. The weather is unlikely to improve over the next few days. However, d the cold wave will continue unabated, the weather office said.
--IANS md/pgh/