Shimla: Himachal Pradesh was today lashed by rains, hailstorm and snow and the maximum day temperature dropped by five to seven degrees in most parts of the state.
The high altitude tribal areas, higher reaches and mountain passes had another spell of intermittent snowfall while the mid and lower hills received widespread heavy rains.
Rohtang pass (13,050 ft) received about 100 cm of snow while Dhauladhar ranges in Kangra and Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur experienced intermittent heavy snowfall.
Keylong in tribal areas recorded 35 cm of snow till this evening while Kalpa, Bharmaur, Kothi and Hansa received 12 cm, 11 cm, 10 cm and 5 cm of snow.
Narkanda, Kharapatthar, Sangla and Chitkul also received fresh snowfall reviving the cold wave conditions.
The fresh snowfall in Upper Manali and Rohtang has hampered the snow clearance operations on Manali-Rohtang-Leh road.
Shimla and surrounding areas were lashed by heavy rains and hailstorm, accompanied by strong winds while lower and mid hills received widespread rains, reducing the winter rains deficit from January 1 to March 12, from 50 per cent to seventy per cent.
The rains caused landslides in interior areas, blew off roofs of kachha houses and uprooted trees at some places in Kangra, Sirmaur and Mandi districts while vehicular traffic was hampered due to fresh snowfall in interior areas of Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti and Shimla districts.
Two women were injured when a tree uprooted by storm fell their house near Palampur while a severe storm hit the Pachhad and Sarahan area of Sirmaur district. ?
Bharmaur in Chamba district received 150 mm rains while tourist resorts of Dalhousie and Manali received 91 mm and 82 mm of rains, followed by ?Hansa 76 mm,, Saloni 75 mm, Kothi 71 mm, Dharamsala 58 mm, Shimla 45 mm, Jogindernagar 42 mm, Bangana 40 mm, Kangra 39 mm, Bhuntar, and? Sujanpur Tira 38 mm, and Solan 32.5 mm.
The maximum temperatures dropped by five to seven degrees and Una recorded a high of 25.6 degrees, followed by Nahan 21.1 degrees, Dharamsala 19.6 degrees, Solan 16.8 degrees, Sundernagar 14.4 degrees, Bhuntar 12 degrees, Shimla 11 degrees, Manali 10.4 degrees and Kalpa 6.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperatures dropped marginally and Keylong recorded a low of minus 0.7, followed by Kalpa 0.2 degree, Manali 1.6 degree, Shimla 6.4 degree, Bhuntar 9.2 degrees, Solan 9.5 degrees, Dharamsala 98 degrees 11.2 degrees and Una 14.8 degrees C.
The local MeT office has warned of heavy rains/thundersquall accompanied with hail at isolated places in mid and higher hills tomorrow and rains or snow in the region over the next three days.
