Parts of Himachal witness rains; marginal rise in temperature

Light to moderate rains occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh today while the weather remained dry in the remaining parts.
"Rains occurred at isolated places in the last 24 hours but heavy rains are likely at some places in mid and lower hills on August 6 and 7," the MeT office said, adding that rains and thundershowers would lash a few places in lower, mid and higher hills over the next six days till August 9.
The lower hills reeled under sultry heat as the day temperature rose to 37.2 degrees Celsius at Una at the Shivalik foothills, three notches above normal, while Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded a high of 33.5 and 32.7 degrees respectively, followed by Nahan (30.5), Dharamshala (28.4), Solan (28), Manali (25), Kalpa (23.2) and Shimla (22.1 degrees Celsius).

The minimum temperatures hovered around normal with Kalpa and Keylong in the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti recording a low of 12.6 and 14.4 degrees Celsius respectively, while key tourist spots of Manali, Dharamshala and Shimla recorded minimum temperatures of 15.6, 16.2 and16.9 degrees Celsius respectively, followed by Palampur and Bhuntar (19), Nahan (20), Solan (20.8), Sundernagar (21.6) and Una (25.8 degrees Celsius).
Sarkaghat in Mandi district received the maximum of 20 mm rains, while Mashobra and Kandaghat recorded 19 mm rains each, followed by Khadrala (17), Rajgarh (15), Shimla (14), Manali (13), Sarahan (12), Rohru (11), Bijahi (10), Jubbal and Bajaura (8 mm each).

The overall monsoon situation was not good in the state where the rainfall deficit was 37 per cent in July with the first three days of August recording only a five-per cent excess rainfall.