PUNE: The intense winter chill has hit parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh but snowfall or rainfall activity in the hilly states in the north have been significantly less than normal this winter, IMD data shows.
Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have received scanty snowfall or rainfall with 88-100% deficiency this December.
IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said they have not seen any intense western disturbances so far.
He said usually there are five to seven western disturbances during the winter season from December to February, but so far only feeble events have occurred in December.
"Western disturbances should pass through the Indian region to cause rain or snow, which too did not happen in case of some western disturbances. We expect a western disturbance on December 29, but that too will be feeble and may cause only little rainfall/snow activity over J&K, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh," he added.
Mohapatra said that in November too five western disturbances moved across North India.
Of these, two (November 2-5 and 6-9) impacted north India and caused isolated to scattered rain or snowfall over western Himalayan region and rainfall over adjoining areas.
The rest (November 13-15, 18-21 and 22-24), located at latitude north of 30deg North were feeble and did not affect the region, he said.
Skymet Weather Services president GP Sharma said Shimla, Manali and Srinagar have typical snowfall spells around Christmas and New Year which attracts tourists.
He added that this time, both November and December were somewhat dry so far and it doesn't look like there will be a surge in snowfall activity till December-end.
"Higher regions, further north of Jammu & Kashmir may still experience some snowfall/rainfall activity but not much is expected in the lower regions/plains till December-end," he said.
Sonam Lotus, director of IMD, Jammu & Kashmir said that during October and November this year, the state, including Ladakh received normal rainfall/ snowfall which was deficient in December due to the absence of active western disturbances.
"Climatologically, Srinagar gets 46mm (water equivalent) of snowfall during the month of December, but received 2.3mm so far this December.
Snowfall in Srinagar has also been deficient in all Decembers during the last decade, except in 2020, when it was normal," he added.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Neha Madaan is a senior feature writer at The Times of India, Pun...
Read MoreNeha Madaan is a senior feature writer at The Times of India, Pune. She holds an M A degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from University of Pune. She covers tourism, heritage development and its conservation, apart from an array of subjects such as civic issues, environment, astronomy, civic school education as well as social issues concerning persons with disabilities. Her interests include metaphysical research and animal rights.
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