The monsoon has become active in Himachal Pradesh as certain areas witnessed rain on Friday night that lasted till 6 am on Saturday. The showers have not only brought respite from the scorching heat, but farmers have also started the paddy plantation in the state. Many areas of the state capital Shimla, Mandi and Kullu were flooded with rainwater on Saturday morning. On Friday afternoon too, many areas in the hills received heavy rainfall, however, the plains remained dry.
While Kasauli remained the wettest with 103 mm of rains, it was followed by Nurpur (68 mm), Dharampur (60 mm), Arki (51 mm), Ghumarwin received 47 mm, Kahu (42 mm), Jhandutta (40 mm), Sundernagar (38 mm), Bilaspur got 37 mm, Renuka (33 mm), Berthin (32 mm), Bijahi (30 mm), Kufri received 27 mm of rainfall, Jogindernagar (20 mm), Pachhad (19 mm), Solan (16 mm), Gohar got 15 mm of rainfall, Nahan (14 mm) and Bharari got 12 mm of rain.
In Mandi’s Jogindernagar, six members of a family narrowly escaped after a tree fell on the roof of their house. The tree was planted in the premises of a government school, however, due to a heavy storm, it got uprooted and fell on the roof of Virendra Sood’s house.
After the rains, there was no significant change in the minimum and maximum temperatures. On Friday, Una remained the hottest at 42 degrees that was followed by Bilaspur (37.5), Hamirpur (35.5), Chamba (35), Manali (29), Shimla (27.2) and Keylong remained the coldest at 10.6 degrees Celsius.
According to the Met department, similar weather conditions are likely to prevail till July 15. The local meteorological department has issued a yellow alert for today. Thunderstorms and lightning are predicted in isolated places in 10 out of 12 districts barring Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.
Scattered rains are also expected in parts of the state. An orange alert has been announced for Sunday and Monday. Heavy to very heavy rains may lash seven districts of the state, including Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur. The rains will be accompanied by thunderstorms.