Snow in higher reaches, rain in several parts of Himachal Pradesh

Isolated places in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh received snowfall, while moderate rain lashed parts of the state, the Shimla Meteorological office said on Sunday.

The wet spell will continue in the hill state till Friday, barring Tuesday, it said.

Some areas in the state have witnessed snowfall since Saturday evening.

Kothi in Manali received 27.5 cm of snow, Shimla’s Khadrala 5 cm, Kinnaur’s Kalpa 4 cm and Sangla 3.4 cm while Lahaul and Spiti’s Gondla recorded 15 cm of snowfall, Kukumseri 4.8 cm and Keylong 4 cm.

Thunderstorms were observed in Shimla, Jubbarhatti, Kangra, Sundernagar and Kullu’s Bhuntar. Shallow fog reduced visibility to about 800 metres in parts of Mandi district, the weather office said.

Several areas in Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rain. Manali recorded 65 mm of rains followed by Bhuntar 45.6 mm, Kasol 44 mm, Seobagh 42 mm, Gohar 36mm, Kothi 34 mm, Baggi 32.1 mm, Katula 30.3 mm, Pandoh and Rohru 30 mm each and Bijahi 26.2 mm.

Ghagas in Bilaspur received 25.6 mm rain, Sundernagar 24.2 mm, Pooh 22.8 mm, Jubbal 21.4 mm, Jogindernagar 18 mm Shillaro 17 mm, Slapper 16.5 mm, Mandi 16.4 mm, Baldwara 16.0 mm and Kufri 15 mm.

The Meteorological office has predicted light to moderate rain at few places on Sunday and light rain at isolated places of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur.

Higher reaches of Chamba, Kangra and Kullu will also witness a wet spell from March 17 to 21, barring March 18 when the weather would remain dry, it said.

A fresh, feeble Western Disturbance is likely to affect the Western Himalayan region from March 19.

Keylong recorded the lowest night temperature of minus 2 degrees Celsius.

From March 1 to 16, Himachal Pradesh has received 73.2 mm of rainfall against the normal of 60.7mm, marking an excess of 21 per cent.