Light snowfall, rain in Himachal

Light snowfall and rain in some parts of Himachal Pradesh occurred in last 24 hours with the meteorological department has issued orange and yellow warning for January 13 and 16 of heavy rain, snowfall in the state.

Kalpa received 1 cm snowfall, whereas Kothi got 11 mm rain, followed by Manali 6 mm, Seobagh 5 mm and Bhuntar 3 mm, Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

On Friday, the MeT centre has forecast rain, snowfall in high, middle hills, and rain, thunderstorm in plains, low hills till January 19.However, it issued orange warning for January 13 and yellow warning for January 16 of heavy rain, snow in the state.

The Met office issues colour-coded warnings to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather that has the potential to cause damage, widespread disruption or danger to life.

Orange is for weather conditions that have the capacity to impact significantly, while yellow, the least dangerous of all the weather warnings, indicates the possibility of severe weather.

Issuing advisory, the weatherman said that heavy rain, snowfall may occur in several parts of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, Chamba and Solan district whereas thunderstorm may take place in Una, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts on January 13 and 16.

Following weather forecast, Kullu police advised local residents and tourists to not travel up to the higher reaches and snowbound areas of the district.

Kullu Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said owing to the MeT warning of heavy rain and snowfall in the district from January 12 to 19 people should avoid travelling to the the higher reaches as it might prove fatal.

In a post on social media, Kullu police has asked people to call 107, a toll free number in case of any emergency.

Meanwhile on Sunday minimum temperatures increased by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius with Lahaul and Spiti district's administrative centre Keylong recording the lowest temperature at minus 11.3 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Centre said.

The minimum temperature in Kinnaur's Kalpa was minus 4 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali in Kullu district at minus 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Dalhousie recorded a low of 1.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Kufri 4 1.5 degrees Celsius and Shimla 5.1 1.5 degrees Celsius, he added.