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Meercury dips after fresh spell of snow, rain in Himachal
The state was in for a breather from scorching heat as night temperature dropped several notches after a fresh spell of rainfall in the plains and snowfall in the higher reaches
The state was in for a breather from scorching heat as night temperature dropped several notches after a fresh spell of rainfall in the plains and snowfall in the higher reaches.
The Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Shimla centre director Surender Paul said the recorded minimum temperature remained below normal amid the showers.
Famous tourist resort Manali was the wettest, receiving 36 mm of rainfall followed by Bhunter with 35.2 mm rainfall and Chamba 33mm. State capital Shimla received 31.5mm of rainfall, while Sundernagar, Palampur, Kufri, Sarhan, Kukumseri, Bertin and Dalhousie all recorded rainfall between 20-30 mm.
On the lower side, Mandi received 19.8 mm of rainfall, Jubberhatti 18.6 mm, Dharamshala 15.4 mm and Narkanda 12.5mm. Other areas also witnessed scattered showers.
The temperature, meanwhile, dropped to -0.1° Celsius in Keylong, the headquarters of tribal Lahaul-Spiti district, which was the coldest place in the state.
Narkanda also shivered at 4.4° C, Kalpa at 5.4° C and Manali at 6° C. Fellow tourist town of Kufri, located on the outskirts of Shimla also saw the mercury drop to a low temperature of 6.7° C, while other popular hilltown destinations of Mashobra and Dalhousie recorded lows of 7.8° C and 7.9° C respectively.
Reckongpeo in Kinnaur had a night temperature of 8.4° C, Shimla 8.8° C and Dharamshala 11.4° C.
Power disrupted, roads blocked
Several areas in the state also plunged into darkness as 615 electricity transformers malfunctioned due thunderstorms. Maximum 318 transformers were reported broken in Una, 217 in Kullu and 19 in Lahaul and Spiti district, officials of district disaster management authority (DDMA) said.
Besides, eight roads including two national highways were blocked. The Manali-Leh highway is open for four-wheel drive vehicles only for the Solangnala to Atal Tunnel stretch and up to Tandi on the north side.
The road between Tandi to Darcha remained closed amid snowfall, as did the stretches between Darcha to Sarchu and Koksar to Rohtang Pass. National Highway 505 was also closed between Gramphu to Chotta Dara.
Paul said the wet spell is likely to continue till April 22 with an orange alert for heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, lightning and hail likely at isolated places on Wednesday and a yellow alert on April 20 and 21.
Showers to continue across J&K for two more days
While the meteorological department’s (MeT) Srinagar office has predicted improvement in weather starting Wednesday night, showers will continue for next two days. “Significant decrease in rainfall is likely from tonight, but intermittent rain (mainly towards late afternoon) is likely to continue till April 22,” MeT Srinagar director Sonum Lotus said, adding that there was no forecast of snowfall in Kargil.
Banihal received the highest 66.4mm rainfall, Pahalgam 63.4 mm, while Gulmarg had 51.7 mm rainfall and Jammu 17.1mm, the department’s statement read.
Srinagar recorded a temperature low of 10.3° C, while the resort towns of Pahalgam and Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed lows of 5.4° C and 2.0° C. Meanwhile in Jammu, temperaturedipped to 17.4° C and Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded lows of 1.6° C and 3.3° C.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s disaster management agency issued afresh avalanche, saying, Avalanche with low danger level is likely to occur above 3,000 to 3,500 m above sea level over Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Ramban and Baramulla districts in next 24 hours.”
Police in Kulgam rescued three nomadic families and their livestock from near Chambgund in south Kashmir.
“At about 9.40 pm, police received information about the family being stuck in between the river Vaishow near Chambgund due to abrupt increase in water level following continuous rainfall. A rescue operation was launched,” an official said.
