After days of unusually warm weather, the cold returned to the region and with it the woolens that the people in the northwest had been thinking of packing for the next winters. People today woke up to a cold and wet day in the Capital and elsewhere in the plains of the northwest, including Punjab, Haryana and Jammu, with light to moderate showers intensifying the chill in the region and bringing the much-needed relief to farmers of the wheat belt.
The upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have also been receiving snowfall since Friday night.
The Met office says it rained the maximum in Rajasthan as far as the plains are concerned, largely because of low-pressure area over Pakistan and adjoining Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Rainfall in all divisions of Rajasthan resulted in dip in temperatures, bringing back a mild cold wave and giving respite to the people from intense heat of the past few days.
The rains have also been a welcome change for the farmers of the wheat belt for whom the dry weather and rising night temperatures in the plains of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi had been the cause of much concern.
At present, a western disturbance is there over the northwest and together with the induced cyclonic circulation over south Pakistan and the adjoining Rajasthan region, fairly widespread rainfall/snow is likely to occur over the entire western Himalayan region during the next two to three days.
Model predictions suggest that both systems are moving in the eastward directions. Under its influence, as far as the plains are concerned, rains and thundershowers are likely at many places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and west Utter Pradesh, where it could rain for next one to two days or till Sunday at least.
Microbiologist and a Toxicologist, Des was born in Nither, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. At present Dr. Kashyap is working as a Research Faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine in Gary, Indiana, USA.
