Thunderstorm disrupts power

Shimla, April 17

A severe thunderstorm accompanied by lighting and intermittent rain lashed several areas of Himachal today, disrupting power supply, and damaging fruit, vegetable and rabi crops. The standing wheat crop in lower and mid hills ready for harvesting was flattened while lightning struck at several places, piercing through trees.

Widespread rain occurred in the state and Dalhousie and Mandi were the wettest with 26 mm of rainfall, followed by Dharamsala 18 mm, Bharmaur 16 mm, Jogindernagar 15 mm, Udaipur 13 mm, Sujanpur Tihra 12 mm, Kothi 11 mm, Shimla, Keylong and Baldwara 10 mm each. Fresh snowfall occurred at isolated places in tribal areas; Keylong and Hansa received 3 cm and 2 cm of snow.

The minimum and maximum temperatures dropped by five to eight degrees and Keylong was the coldest in the region with a low of 1°C while Una was the hottest with a high of 30.2°C. — TNS