Mussoorie, Come winter and the plains of India are under a thick blanket of fog and smog, with no sight or sign of sun for weeks on end.
But the hills tell a different tale. Weeks post the snowfall abated, the hills of Uttarakhand are basking in sunshine and clear blue skies, even in the depth of winter.
At 7500 feet, Mussoorie is snug as a bug in a rug, blanketed in warm sunshine, with ice-clouds highlighting the blue skies every now and then. Across the town, local residents enjoy the warmth of the bonanza winter sun playing carrom, reading newspaper, discussing politics or work, yet many who visit the hill-station, find themselves pleasantly surprised with the sun shining brightly, for they came looking for snow.
For Suraj Godiyal and his group of friends, disappointment is apparent, “we saw visuals of snowfall in Dhanolti and Surkhanda shared a week back, we came together expecting snow in Mussoorie too. We are quite disappointed.” Sudhir Thapliyal, a tourist from Nagpur, chips in,“I did expect Mussoorie to be colder, but the sun here is toasty and warm. We find it difficult to walk around without sunglasses or a hat to avoid the bright glare of the sun.’
If we were to believe the State Met Department, cloud cover and haze might continue in Uttarakhand over the next few days. Minimum and maximum temperature will remain close to normal. Pantnagar was the warmest city at 22.9 celsius, with Mukteshwar being the coldest at 4.5 celsius.
Mussoorie residents do feel that there has been a quantum change in the weather patterns of the hills which is apparent through the four seasons. But they add, no complaints here! Enjoy the bright, clear days as long as they last and then plan your winter vacation once the weather turns for the worse.
Oddly enough this weather pattern might continue over the next another couple of days, before rain and snowfall in the interiors of the the hill-state around the 12th and 13th of December will bring the mercury plummeting.
