Drizzle, snowfall hit Uttarakhand tourism, festivities

Drizzles on Sunday and snowfalls in higher altitudes brought temperatures down here besides hitting the planned Holi gatherings in the tourist region, as chilling winter made a retreat. The met department has warned of more rainfalls in the plains and mountains.

Many organisations had planned Holi gatherings on Sunday were forced to postpone their programmes due to the changing weather conditions. Drizzles brought temperatures down in Dehradun as the Sun remained hidden behind the clouds. Temperature was fluctuating between 10 degrees Celsius to 15 degrees Celsius on the weekend. Two days back, temperature had crossed 20 degrees Celsius mark forcing people to pack-up their warm clothes, presuming that the winter is over. 

Markets wore a deserted look and most of the restaurants which used to do brisk business on Sundays remained without visitors most of the time. ‘Queen of Hills’ - Mussoorie also witnessed low tourist arrivals from other states.

Mild rain was reported in all the adjoining areas of Dehradun city as roads leading to Rishikesh, Haridwar, Roorkee and Vikas Nagar were drenched in water. Kedarnath too reported fresh snowfall where temperature dipped to minus 7 degrees Celsius. As per the met department, there will be some respite from the weather in the next 24 hours. Garhwal and Kumaon regions are likely to witness fresh rainfall.