After a freakishly dry winter so far, the northern hill states are likely to get their first major spell of snowfall, and the plains of north India much-needed rain, with two back-to-back western disturbances set to impact the region over the next six days or so. The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued orange alerts for snow/rain on Wednesday over J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, and for Thursday over the same region (with Uttarakhand’s alert being lowered to yellow).