Shimla: The hills of Himachal Pradesh is to witness more snowfall and rain this week, as forecasted by the Met Office. The Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) at Manali, issuing warnings for the possibility of avalanches, has advised locals and tourists to travel carefully in high hills, especially tourist resorts in the Manali region, as the area is assumed to be affected the most.
On Monday, the state witnessed a partly cloudy skies only. However the hills of Himachal Pradesh saw a rise in mercury due to prevailing dry conditions after a wet spell on Tuesday, but the Met has forecast rain and more snowfall starting Wednesday.
Explaining about the weather, a meteorological official told, the western disturbances – storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region – would start in Himachal Pradesh from February 12 and this will result in widespread rainfall and snowfall in the state from wednesday.
Few tourist resorts at Manali, some 250 km away from Shimla, recorded the minimum temperature of zero degree Celsius while most of the major tourist cities like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie, located in mid-hills, may experience snowfall during this period.
As per the recent reports of the weather station, with a low of -10.8 degree Celsius, Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was recorded as the coldest place in the state. The minimum temperature of Shimla recorded 4.1, while it was – 4.2 degree Celsius Kalpa in Kinnaur district, 2.1 in Kufri, 2.9 in Dalhousie and 4.8 in Dharamsala.
However, SASE reported, the hilly areas like Solang ski slopes, Dhundi and Beas Kund, have the threat of the snow avalanche more. Since all these areas have been located at a high from the districts of Kullu and Manali, the guests as well as the local people have been warned against the forthcoming adverse climate.
