Fresh Western Disturbance to Bring Heavy Snow, Rain to Himachal Pradesh

Skymet Weather has updated Himachal Pradesh’s forecast and published an alert that landslides and avalanches may affect few places from December 15, 2019.

Rain, snow and hail storms are likely over Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahul and Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan, Una, Anantnag, Badgam, Bandipore, Baramulla, Doda, Ganderbal, Jammu, Kargil, Kathua, Kishtwar, Kulgam, Leh(Ladakh), Pulwama, Punch, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Samba, Shupiyan, Srinagar and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir around December 13, 2019. 

WATCH | Heavy Snowfall Predicted In Himachal Pradesh

Himachal may see 24-hour total precipitation of 30mm to 50mm and 24-hour total snowfall of 30cm to 80cm until Saturday early morning. It may get scattered snow or rain on Saturday. Shimla had a minimum temperature of 2.8 degrees Celsius, while maximum temperatures were at 5.9 degrees, which is a steep downfall from Wednesday's temperature - 13.3 degrees.

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The IMD has said that a cyclone system may be the cause of more rain and snow. It is said to be a western disturbance originating from the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region and moving in the direction of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. It would remain active till December 13, Friday.

News agencies updated that Himachal had a snowfall.
Check out | Pictures from Himachal’s snowfall this weekend.

As news of the snowfall spreads, tourists are expected in Shimla and nearby places like Kufri, Mashobra and Narkanda.
A Shimla-based hotelier told news agencies: "This weekend we are expecting a good rush of tourists.”

A Meteorological Department official in Shimla told news agencies that some areas have already been receiving light snowfall, for example, the hills overlooking Manali like Gulaba, Solang and Kothi, since Wednesday, December 11. Manali has experienced more than four cm of snow, it’s lowest temperature being 1.8 degrees.

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The official added that "The higher reaches of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu, Shimla, Mandi, Sirmaur and Chamba districts have been experiencing snowfall, while mid and lower hills are experiencing rain.”

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti have also experienced snowfall. They faced a low of minus 0.9 degrees and minus 3.9 degrees Celsius, respectively. Dharamsala recorded a low of 7.6 degrees Celsius.

A large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road is under a thick blanket of snow, therefore traffic movement beyond Dhalli, which is 10 kilometers from Shimla, is suspended partially.

READ | ANI on Twitter about Himachal Pradesh weather updates

(With Inputs from ANI)