Snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir [Images], Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal is likely to decrease over the next three days, a weather department official said on Monday.

However, snowfall might marginally increase after the three-day period, he said.

"It will decline from Feb 22 to Feb 24. Then, due to weak western disturbances, it might increase marginally," said Dr Akhilesh Gupta from the Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting.

There would be no avalanches from Tuesday, Gupta said.

Gupta said a avalanche is scientifically an after-effect of heavy snowfall.

Continuous accumulation of snow triggers avalanches as the increasing weight of snow creates a state of inequilibrium.

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Moreover, a single spell of snowfall would not cause an avalanche, while persistent and heavy snowfall might, he said.

He said it is difficult to predict where exactly the avalanche would hit due to lack of geological and geomorphologic data.

More than one lakh observations from all over the world relating to surface, upper air and satellite data, are used to forecast an avalanche.