Shimla, Mar 19 (PTI) The Met office on Thursday issued an orange alert of heavy rain, snow, thunderstorm with lightning and gusty winds (speed 40- 60 kmph) for areas in Mandi, Shimla, and Sirmaur for the next day.
The weather office predicted the wet spell in the state to last till March 25. Snow and rain were witnessed in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.
The tribal Lahaul and Spiti district witnessed snow, while the mid and low hills have been lashed by intermittent rains in the past 24 hours.
Since Wednesday evening, Gondla in Lahaul and Spiti district has received 13 cm of snow, followed by Keylong, Kukumseri, Hansa, and Kalpa in Kinnaur, which received 12 mm, 11.4 cm, 10 cm, and 0.4 cm of snow.
Vehicles were barred from going beyond the Solang Valley due to snow accumulation.
People linked to Manali’s tourism and allied industries welcomed the sudden spike in hotel occupancy due to snow lovers.
Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, said he expects hotel occupancy to double to 70 per cent on the weekend.
Meanwhile, Manali with 57 mm of rain was the wettest in the state on Thursday, followed by Tissa 33 mm, Sarahan and Bhuntar 32.5 mm each, Seobagh 32.4 mm, Jot 27 mm, Kalpa 20 mm, Neri 19.5 mm, and Shimla 19.4 mm.
A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from March 22, the Met said.
Kukumseri was coldest at night, recording a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, while Nahan was hottest at 21.8 degrees Celsius. PTI BPL VN VN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.