Hailstorm, snow forecast today in Himachal

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 22

The fortnight-long dry spell is likely to break with the local MeT office issuing a warning of a thunderstorm, hailstorm and lightning in mid and lower hills tomorrow and rain and snowfall in mid and higher hills and rain and thunderstorm in lower hills on January 23 and 24. The weather will remain dry January 25 onwards.

The region witnessed a clear day in the morning but strong winds swept mid and higher hills and the sky was overcast in the evening as the maximum temperatures dropped by two to four degrees. The day temperatures, which breached 24°C at many places yesterday, dropped by a few notches. Solan was hottest with a high of 22.5°C, Sundernagar 17.7°C, Una 17.2°C, Bhuntar 16.4°C, Shimla 15.5°C, Kalpa 9°C, and Keylong 4.7ºC.

The minimum temperatures fluctuated marginally and Keylong was the coldest in the region with a low of -4.9°C, followed by Kalpa -0.7°C, Manali -0.2°C, Solan 1.5°C, Sundernagar 2.2°C, Bhuntar 2.7°C, Una 3.6°C, Dharamsala 5.8°C and Shimla 7.6°C, two to five degrees above normal.

The state received 30.4 mm of average rainfall from January 1 to 22, compared to a normal rainfall of 51.9 mm, a deficit of 44 per cent. The continued dry spell was causing anxiety to farmers.