Himachal Pradesh: Shimla, Manali witness season's first snowfall
The hill station of Shimla and Manali which are considered the perfect weekend destinations near Delhi saw the season’s first snowfall on Thursday.
New Delhi: The winter seas of 2019 turned out surprisingly pleasant for those fond of snow-clad peaks in mountains. On Thursday, as some parts of northern India witnessed rainfall, snowfall was reported in some picturesque hill stations of Himachal Pradesh.
The hill station of Shimla and Manali which are considered the perfect weekend destinations near Delhi saw the season’s first snowfall on Thursday. The hills near the popular holiday destination Shimla were also covered in snow.
The interest of the tourists piqued as the news of the snowfall spread with the weekend approaching. Holidaymakers began reaching Shimla and nearby places like Kufri, Mashobra and Narkanda.
However, some of the tourist spots in the upper Shimla district as snow blocked the roads leading up to the towns.
On a day when Delhi witnessed incessant rains and a dip in temperature, Shimla also witnessed a drastic fall in mercury levels. The ‘Queen of Hills’ saw a minimum temperature of 2.8 degree Celsius and maximum at 5.9 degrees.
The Meteorological Department (MeT) said moderate rainfall was also witnessed at hills overlooking Manali such as Gulaba, Solang and Kothi since Wednesday.
The temperature in Manali dipped to as low as 1.8 degree Celsius after it received more than four centimetres of snowfall.
"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," an official was quoted by the news agency ANI as saying.
Kalpa in the Kinnaur district and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti also experienced snowfall. The minimum temperature at these places was recorded at minus 0.9 degree Celsius and minus 3.9 degree Celsius respectively.
Another popular tourist spot Dharamsala saw mercury at lower levels of 7.6 degree Celsius.