By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 18 Mar: Thunderstorms, rain and hailstorms continued to lash many parts of Uttarakhand for the second continuous day today, increasing the misery of people. Light rains and snowfall have brought back the chill in the mountains as well as in the plains, forcing the people to wear woollens once again. Snowfall has been reported in high mountain peaks of the state including Kedarnath and Badrinath. Rains continued in most areas of the state including Dehradun through the day today. Due to snowfall and heavy rains in the hills, a drop in temperature has also been recorded in most areas. Continuous rain continued in Vikasnagar as well. While rains have come as a blessing for the forest department, since forest fires have extinguished in most of the areas due to rain , the rains and hailstorms also caused heavy damage to the mango and litchi crops which are currently in the blooming stage.
It started raining in Mussoorie late Friday night. Haridwar and Roorkee have also witnessed heavy rains since yesterday. Light rains were also reported from Pauri, Kotdwar and surrounding areas. The temperature has dropped significantly due to rains. On the other hand, rains have damaged the mango and litchi crops. Dense clouds were also seen in Rudraprayag district with a distinct possibility of rain here too. Rains and hailstorms were witnessed many areas of Nainital for the second day today. A significant drop in temperature has been recorded.
In Dehradun, it rained throughout the night intermittently on Friday and continued through most of the day today and the weather is yet to clear out here. Hailstorms were also recorded at many places in the outskirts of Doon and around Mussoorie. In Doon, the temperature took a dive due to the rain in the night. According to the Meteorological Department, 10 mm of rain was recorded in Doon within an hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on Friday. Maximum rainfall was received at Devidhura, Jakholi, Nainital, Dhanaulti, Chakrata, Bhimtal, Mukteshwar Jeolikot in the state but the rains have been widespread.
According to Bikram Singh, Director of the Meteorological Centre, the rains and bad weather are likely to continue till 21 March at least. A warning has been issued regarding hailstorm with thunder and lightning at some places in the state and thunderstorm in the plains. There are chances of rain and snowfall in the mountainous areas. A further slight drop in temperature can be recorded. Due to rain and hailstorm at different places of the state, the incidents of forest fire have come to a halt for the time being. No incident of forest fire has been registered in the state for the last two days. This comes as a major relief for the forest department. It may be recalled that this year incidents of forest fires began rather early in the season due to lesser rains in the winter months. Already, about 165 hectares of forest area has been reported to be burnt in 103 incidents of forest fire this year.
