Snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti, rain lashes several parts of HP

Rain lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh since Friday evening, while some places in Lahaul and Spiti district witnessed light snowfall, the local Meteorological (MeT) office said on Saturday.

An orange alert has been issued for thunderstorm, lightning, and hail at isolated places in eight districts—Una, Bilapsur, Hamirpur, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, and Sirmaur—for Saturday. Additionally, a yellow warning has been issued for thunderstorm and lightning in Chamba and Kullu districts.

According to the MeT office, Kukumseri received 7 cm of snow, followed by Gondhla with 3 cm and Keylong 1 cm. Gusty winds with a speed of 40-60 km/h were witnessed in several locations, including Bajaura, Bilapsur, Seobagh, Kotkhai, Kufri, Reckong Peo, and Tabo. Thunderstorms were reported in Shimla, Sundernagar, Kangra, Jubbarhatti, and Bhuntar.

Light to moderate rains lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala, which recorded 40 mm of rain, was the wettest in the state, followed by Jogindernagar and Baijnath (32 mm rain each), Jot (24.4 mm), Dalhousie (22 mm), Palampur (19.2 mm), Solan (15 mm), Mandi (14.8 mm), Jatton Barrage and Malraon (14 mm each), Sundernagar (13.4 mm), Chamba (11 mm), Kothi (10.2 mm), and Jubbarhatti (10.1 mm).

A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the Western Himalayan region from April 16, the MeT office said, predicting light precipitation at isolated areas on Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile, there was an appreciable fall in the minimum temperatures across the state. Keylong, at 0.1°C, remained the coldest on Friday night.

Despite recent showers, Himachal Pradesh continues to face a rain deficit. Between March 1 and April 12, the state received 84.3 mm of rain, 39 per cent below the normal of 138.8 mm, the MeT department said.