Rain accompanied with high velocity wind brings down mercury in Shimla, Manali

The tourist destinations of Shimla and Manali in Himachal Pradesh received rain accompanied with high velocity wind on Wednesday morning with the minimum temperature dropping by 2.1°C.

State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said snow and rain is forecast at scattered places in the hill state over the next few hours, while the weather will remain cloudy.

Shimla received 17.5mm of rainfall, while Kufri, 14km from the state capital, got 8mm of rain. The minimum temperature in Shimla was 4.5°C on Wednesday morning, while it was 6.6°C on Tuesday.

Though Shimla town did not get snow on Tuesday, its higher reaches such as Narkanda, Chanshal, Khadrala, Khidki, Sungri, Fagu and Kufri got light snowfall on Tuesday.

ATAL TUNNEL REMAINS CLOSED

The Leh-Manali National Highway and Atal Tunnel remained closed for traffic due to heavy snowfall in the higher reaches.

Kalpa got 71cm of snowfall, Keylong 20cm, Kothi 35cm, Khadrala 28cm, Moorang 18 cm and Pooh 15cm.

Manali received 43mm of rainfall, Dalhousie 38mm, Bhuntar 22.3mm, Una and Nahan 18mm each, Solan 17.3mm, Dharamshala 13.6mm, Mandi 5.3mm and Bilaspur 4.5mm.

KEYLONG STAYS COLDEST AT -2.6°C

The minimum temperature in prominent tourist destinations of Manali, Dharamshala, Dalhousie and Kufri was 0.2°C, 3.4°C, 2.8°C and 1.4°C.

Una recorded a low of 9.5°C, while Solan was 7.5°C, Bilaspur 12.5°C, Hamirpur 12.3°C each, Mandi 7.1°C, Nahan 11.9°C , and minus 1°C in Kalpa.

Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 2.6°C.