If you’re planning a trip to the Himalayas this weekend or in the coming days, you may want to hold off on packing your bags. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a fresh spell of widespread monsoon activity across Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand from July 18, with heavy to very heavy rainfall expected across the region.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Himachal Pradesh, while Uttarakhand is on high alert for flash floods and landslides. The IMD attributed the expected rainfall increase to multiple active weather systems.
Weather enthusiast Navdeep Dahiya also issued a similar warning on social media. In a post on X, he gave two reasons to avoid a Himalayan trip this weekend through Wednesday.
“First, spell of widespread very heavy to extremely heavy rains expected across Himachal, Jammu, Uttarakhand from Saturday onwards, however at peak during Sunday – Wednesday next week,” Dahiya wrote.
“High risk of landslides at multiple routes, possible risk of cloudburst and flash floods at isolated places, which is common during extreme events,” he added.
What IMD said
According to the Meteorological Centre in Shimla, rainfall is expected to increase progressively during the coming week. While July 17 is likely to witness scattered rainfall over 26 to 50 per cent of the state without any warning, fairly widespread rainfall covering 51 to 75 per cent of the state is forecast for July 18, when heavy rain is expected at isolated places.
The weather office has predicted widespread rainfall across 76 to 100 per cent of Himachal Pradesh from July 19 to July 22, accompanied by heavy to very heavy rain at isolated locations. Widespread rainfall is expected to continue on July 23, with heavy rain likely at isolated places.
According to IMD, a monsoon trough currently extends from Jammu to Bareilly and towards the northeast Bay of Bengal, while a western disturbance persists as a cyclonic circulation over the Jammu region. In addition, a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from July 19, further enhancing rainfall activity over Himachal Pradesh.
Uttarakhand forecast
The IMD has forecast heavy rainfall in parts of Uttarakhand, with rainfall expected to persist over the next 7 days. According to the forecast, an approaching Western Disturbance may potentially increase rainfall starting July 19.
Low to moderate flash flood risks are also expected in watersheds across districts like Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Dehradun, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Uttarkashi.