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Snowfall in Shimla, Kufri brings down mercury
Hoteliers hopeful of more tourist footfall this weekend as weatherman forecasts more snow
SHIMLA: Popular tourist destinations of Shimla and Kufri received snowfall on Friday, while the lower hills across Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rain, bringing the temperature down by several degrees.
Shimla superintendent of police Omapati Jamwal said that traffic situation is normal in Shimla town but the movement of vehicles was halted beyond Kufri and Narkanda and Kharapathar due to slippery road conditions.
Hoteliers welcomed the snowfall as they looked forward more tourist footfall this weekend.
Tourist spots near Shimla such as Fagu and Narkanda looked even more picturesque after the snowfall.
In Shimla, the snow largely melted but in Kufri and Narkanda, it is expected to stay much longer.
With 3cm of snowfall, the minimum temperature in Shimla was 0.2 degree Celsius. Kufri, 14km uphill from the state capital, got 23cm of snowfall.
Shimla also experienced the maximum 22.2mm of rainfall followed by Solan with 20 mm and Paonta Sahib with 19.8mm of rainfall.
KEYLONG COLDEST IN STATE
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 3.7 degrees Celsius. Kalpa recorded a low of 0.8, Manali 4 degrees, Dharamshala 6.6 and Palampur 7.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Dharamsala and Nahan towns got 10.6mm and 16.7mm of rainfall, respectively, while Bilaspur got 18mm, Dalhousie 10mm and Sundernagar 8.3mm of rainfall.
The weather department official said that the western disturbance -- a storm system originating from the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- would remain active till Sunday, bringing in its wake more rain and snow.
