india

Updated: Jan 25, 2019 22:55 IST

A fresh spell of snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir Valley and Uttarakhand on Friday disrupted normal life in the three hill states and brought the cold wave back to the plains of north India, according Met officials.

Although the snowfall was not unprecedented, it was more than the normal. The total snowfall in Shimla this month has been the highest in the 20 years, a Met officials said, predicting more snowfall till Thursday.

Srinagar received about two inches of snow on Friday whereas Shimla saw one feet of snow after receiving about eight inches on Tuesday. The higher reaches of Uttarakhand, including Mussoorie, also received snow, second time this week.

The Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed for the fifth day on Friday as fresh snow hampered efforts of authorities to clear the road for vehicular movement. The arterial road was closed on Tuesday after an avalanche had blocked both tubes of the Jawahar Tunnel on Qazigund side, officials said, adding,efforts were on to open the highway.

The capital Srinagar recorded minimum temperatures of minus 1.3 degree Celsius Thursday night while it was minus 3 at Gulmarg. In Pahalgam, the mercury showed a minimum of minus 6.1 degrees, while Kargil was shivering at minus 19.8 and Leh at minus 12.9 degrees. Weather officials said the Pir Panjal mountain range has been witnessing snow for the last three days that affected normal life in Ramban and Banihal. Friday’s was the fifth round of snowfall in Kashmir, which started on January 2.

In Himachal, while the traffic resumed on the Shimla-Chandigarh highway in the afternoon, there was no vehicular movement to upper reaches such as Rohru, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti. Kasauli received 5 cm snowfall on Friday after two years, officials said. In Shimla town, snow disrupted normal life as the traffic on the main circular road came to a halt. Other tourist destinations such as Dalhousie and Dharamshala received more than one feet of snow.

“Western disturbances have weakened and there could be more snow in a few places in the next 24 hours,” Shimla MeT office director Manmohan Singh said.

Government officials said snowfall will improve water supply in the hills during summer. Several hill stations such as Shimla and Nainital had faced acute water shortage in the summer of 2018.