Orange alert in Himachal after squall, rain lash Shimla, adjoining areas
Orange alert in Himachal after squall, rain lash Shimla, adjoining areas
Shimla, Shimla and its adjoining tourist destinations Kufri and Chharabra were lashed by squall accompanied by sharp rain on Thursday, reducing visibility to a few metres and forcing people to rush indoors, the local Met office said.
The sky was overcast through the day as strong winds swept the area before a squall accompanied lighting hit the region in the evening, the weather office said.
The Met station has issued an orange alert of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning, hailstorm and gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-40 kmph in Shimla and up to 40-50 kmph at isolated places over Una, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Sirmaur and Chamba districts for the next 12 hours till Friday morning.
It also issued a yellow alert of thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-40 kmph in Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts till 9 am on Friday.
A wet spell is predicted in the state till May 7, with lightning and gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-50 kmph likely at isolated places in most districts from Thursday to Sunday.
Light to moderate precipitation is likely over some parts of the state from Friday to Sunday, as a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from May 2 onwards, the Met station said.
The minimum temperature increased by 2-4 degrees Celsius at many places in the state on Thursday, with Keylong recording a low of 5.5 degrees Celsius.
There were no significant changes in the maximum temperature with Una recording a high of 38.2 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state.
The minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to drop by 2-5 degrees Celsius and 2-4 degrees Celsius, respectively, over the next 4-5 days, the MeT station said.
With 40.8 mm of average rain against a normal 64 mm, Himachal Pradesh recorded a deficit of 36 per cent in April.
Ten out of 12 districts in the state, barring Bilapsur and Hamirpur, received deficit rainfall ranging between 5 per cent and 44 per cent.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
