The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh today received a fresh spell of snowfall while the middle and lower hills were lashed by intermittent rain and thunderstorm, causing a sharp fall in temperatures.
The maximum temperatures plummeted by 10 to 12 degrees Celsius while the minimum dropped by 3 to 7 degrees.
State capital Shimla and the adjoining districts of Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Mandi saw severe thunderstorms which hit the power supply and caused damage to apple and stone fruit crops along with standing wheat crops in the higher hills.
People in tribal valleys of Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi were forced to put on their heavy woollens as maximum temperatures dropped considerably.
At Una, the maximum dropped from 40.2 to 28.2 degrees while in Shimla it stood at 15.4 against 25.4 degrees recorded yesterday.
Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Dharamsala also saw a drop of more than 10 degrees in the maximum.
The minimum temperature dropped by 7.5 and 6.5 degrees at Nahan and Shimla to settle at 16.1 and 10.2 degrees, respectively, while Una was the hottest during the night with a minimum of 20.2 degrees.
Minimum temperatures recorded elsewhere are as follows: Dharamsala (17.4 degrees), Sundernagar (15.4), Bhuntar (14.4), Solan (12.4) and Manali (9).
With the state also receiving a good amount of rain, Dharamsala and Jubbal were the wettest in the region recording 32mm rainfall.
Saloni and Gaggal recorded 23mm and 20mm rainfall, respectively, followed by Dalhousie (20mm), Solan (18mm), Chamba (16mm), Jogindernagar, Kufri and Shimla (13mm each), Seobagh and Sundernagar (10mm) and Bhuntar and Jubbarhatti (9mm).
The local MeT office has forecast rain, thunderstorm or snowfall in the middle and higher hills in the coming 24 hours.
