By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Breaking a long dry spell, the Western Himalayan region comprising Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir on Friday experienced the first snowfall of 2026 that brought back cold in the entire north India and disrupted the normal life.
In the plains, rains lashed several areas including Dehradun, Delhi and other big cities of north India that also considerably showed marked improvement in the AQI.
The people also began posting videos of the snowfall at various places like Mussoorie, Chakrata, Dhanaulti, Uttarkashi and other places in Uttarakhand. In Mussoorie, tourists were seen enjoying snowfall at the Mall Road and other places. Srinagar and Shimla also received snowfall.
The peaks of Kedarnath and Badrinath were covered with white snow with the apple belt of Harsil also recording snowfall.
In Kashmir, the famous ski resort of Gulmarg was experiencing heavy snowfall since early morning.
Due to continuous snowfall, snow accumulation in the operational areas, and the forecast of adverse weather conditions along the route, all flight operations at Srinagar Airport have been canceled for today. In Vaishno Devi, heavy snowfall lashed several places including Trikuta hills.
Union Minister of State PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said Patnitop in Jammu experienced season’s first snowfall. “Blanketed in pristine white, the hill spot has transformed into a magical wonderland…,” Dr Singh said on X.
In Dehradun, the maximum temperature plummeted to 14 degree, a drop of 12 degrees since Thursday that brought fresh spell of cold in the city.
The met department said very light to light rain and snowfall (at places with altitude 2300 meter and above) likely to occur at isolated places in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, Nainital, Champawat and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand on Saturday. Dry weather likely to prevail in remaining districts of Uttarakhand.
Earlier, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated due to an intense Western disturbances, light to moderate rainfall and snowfall at most places with isolated heavy falls likely over the Western Himalayan region that includes Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir for nearly one week beginning from Thursday-Friday.
caption: Snowfall at Chakrata in Uttarakhand, Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu, Shimla, Basantgarh in Jammu and Kedarnath temple
