Heavy rain lashes Shimla; mercury dips

Shimla, March 5

Heavy rains on Thursday lashed Shimla and its adjoining areas causing sharp fall in temperatures while mid and lower hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh witnessed sporadic rains, accompanied by high velocity winds.

The region had a clear day in the morning but thick clouds overcast the sky as the day advanced and stormy conditions gripped the region.

According to MeT office, the high altitude tribal areas and other higher hills reeled under biting cold wave conditions, with mercury hovering between 15 to 22 degrees below freezing point.

Keylong and Kalpa in tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts recorded a low of minus 10.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali minus 3.0 degrees C, Shimla 2.3 degrees C, Solan 3.0 degrees C, Bhuntar 3.3 degrees C, Sundernagar and Una 4.1 degrees C, Palampur 5.5 degrees C and Nahaan 10.3 degrees C.

There was no significant change in maximum temperatures and Una recorded a high of 24.4 degrees C, followed by Nahan 20.0 degrees C, Solan 19.0 degrees C, Sundernagar 18.7 degrees C, Bhunter 14.0 degrees C, Shimla 13.4 degrees C, Dharamshala 12.8 degrees C, Manali 7.4 degrees C and Kalpa 5.0 degrees C.

Thick ground frost occurred at many places in mid and higher hills and waterpipes and burst, affecting water supply.

Meanwhile, efforts were on to restore electricity in tribal areas and most of the roads barring some link roads in interiors areas in tribal belt were still closed due to heavy snow.

The local MeT office has more predicted rains or snow at isolated places over the next four days. PTI