By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 19 Jun: The morning today began as usual with indication of yet another hot day but by the afternoon dust-storm started, immediately followed by rain in Dehradun, bringing in much needed respite from the prevailing heat wave. Heavy rain in Dehradun provided much relief to people from the heat. It may be recalled that State Weather Centre of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had yesterday predicted strong winds today and rain in parts of the state and the forecast proved to be accurate. An orange alert had been issued for today for strong winds with light rain in most parts of the state including Dehradun, Pauri, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Champawat which turned out to be true.
As a result of the thunderstorm and the rains, the mercury dipped by over 5 degrees C in many parts of the state this afternoon. The morning today began just like the previous days with indication that the day will be hot today also but by 1 pm, the weather took a sudden turn and strong winds started blowing in Dehradun and even in the hills and this was immediately followed by the rain which continued for sometime, resulting in sharp drop in temperatures.
A strong dust storm in Pachhadun stopped the wheels of vehicles on the road. The garbage and dust lying on the road flew and entered the houses. The drivers had to halt their vehicles at safe places. The shopkeepers had to lower their shutters. The strong storm of about fifteen minutes kept people worried for sometime and even the signboards of the shops flew away.
In some parts of the state gusty winds blew for some time up to a speed of 50 kilometres per hour and accompanying rains turning the weather pleasant. Pre-monsoon rains are very important to get relief from the scorching heat in Uttarakhand and here usually, the relief from the heat comes significantly before the monsoon itself but this season, record-breaking heat was recorded due to lack of pre-monsoon rains. The last showers in the summer were recorded on 1 June but the weather soon turned dry and hot. Meteorologists say that due to the delay in pre-monsoon rains, this time hot winds scorched for more days. The weather may continue to remain pleasant over next 24 hours with a sharp drop in the mercury. Light rain is also likely in many areas of the state on Thursday due to western disturbance. But the weather is likely to turn dry 21 June onwards.
It had started raining yesterday evening in higher reaches of the state, particularly in Uttarkashi and Tehri districts. A heavy rain was recorded yesterday afternoon in Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib and other peaks.
