Moderate to heavy rain in Himachal, Mercury plummets several degrees below normal broke 15yrs record

Following an Orange alert in the state moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded in the last 24 hrs plummeting the night temperature three to four degrees below normal, The Met Office said. The state is facing a cold-wave and overcast sky since last night reducing visibility during the day.

Some places of the state recorded moderate to heavy rainfall which has triggered landslides and frequent spells of snowfall in the high altitude area and also disrupted the restoration of roads between. Darcha to Leh and Gramphu to Kaza. A landslide occurred nearby the adit in the disputed Swara Kudu project on Sunday disrupting vehicular traffic on Hatkoti-Jhagtan road near Gayaltikhud. Local residents stated that no-safeguard measures were being taken by the authorities despite the NGT orders. The continued spell of rain and hailstorm affected the harvesting of Rabi season in the state. It was mainly cloudy today and a light to moderate spell of rain lashed most places of the state in the past 24 hrs.   

Kangra recorded 58 mm of rain, Shimla 53 mm of rain, Palampur 23 mm, Chamba 16.5 mm, Kalpa 12 mm, Mandi 10 mm, and Kufri six mm. Hailstorms also occurred in Shimla, Theog, and Kufri in the last 24 hrs. The hailstorm caused damage to the apple crops in many areas in the Jubbal and Kotkhai and Theog subdivisions. 

The minimum temperature in Shimla was 8.9 degrees and 4.5 degrees below normal, Dharamshala was 8.4 degrees and 9.5 degrees below normal, Tourist resorts Manali 10.8, Dalhousie 8.8 degrees, Kufri seven and Narkanda 5.6, Jubberhati and Bhuntar airport were 12.5 and 13 degrees. Keylong was the coldest in the state at 4.2 degrees, Kalpa 6.8, Solan 12 degrees  Nahan(Sirmaur) Hamirpur and  Kangra 16 each, Mandi 14.6 Chamba 15.6  and  Una 17 and and Bilaspur 18.

Met Office issued an orange warning for the state as fairly widespread rainfall is likely to occur along with hailstorms, thunderstorms, and lightning and heavy rainfall at isolated places in the state in the next 24 hrs. Old fifteen years of cold records have been broken this year as per the data shared by the Met department.