Rain in Himachal brings down mercury

Moderate rain in various parts of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday brought down the temperature by two to three notches, with the weatherman forecasting more thundershowers in the state on Thursday.

An official of the meteorological office here told IANS that most of the prominent tourist destinations like Shimla, Narkanda, Kasauli, Palampur, Dharamsala and Manali saw spells of rain during the day, bringing down the temperatures considerably.

State capital Shimla recorded a high of 21.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below average. It saw 2.8 mm rain.

Kalpa, a picturesque town 250 km from here, recorded maximum temperature of 18.6 degrees Celsius, while Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a high of 28.8 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala in Kangra district at 26.8 degrees and Bhuntar in Kullu district at 25.5 degrees.

Una town was the hottest in the state at 33 degrees Celsius.

Dalhousie, Palampur and Manali towns saw 15 mm, 12 mm and 3 mm rain, respectively.