The weather office on Saturday (February 17) informed that parts of Himachal Pradesh are poised to encounter intense weather conditions for the next two days. The hill state is likely to witness heavy rain, snow and thunderstorms along with hailstorms and gusty winds on Sunday and Monday. In view of this the Met department has issued an orange alert for February 18 and 19.
Yellow warning issued for Himachal Pradesh
The Meteorological office has issued a yellow warning for heavy to very heavy rain/snow and thunderstorms, accompanied by hail, gusty winds, and lightning at isolated locations on February 18 and 19. Subsequent forecasts include heavy rain/snow and thunderstorms with gusty winds and lightning at isolated spots on February 20 and 21.
Moreover, lower hills are expected to witness heavy rains, while mid and higher hills may encounter rain and snow due to a fresh western disturbance anticipated to impact the western Himalayan region from Saturday night.
Min and max temperatures in Himachal
Saturday witnessed dry weather conditions, and day temperatures experienced a slight increase, with Una registering a peak of 27 degrees Celsius. Maximum temperatures in various areas stayed four to 10 degrees above normal, with Kalpa and Keylong in tribal Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts recording highs of 16 and 4 degrees, exceeding normal temperatures by 10 and six degrees.
Most locations surpassed the 22-degree mark, with Bilaspur and Sundernagar reaching highs of 26 and 24.9 degrees, followed by Kangra at 23.6 degrees, Mandi at 23.4 degrees, and Solan at 23 degrees Celsius.
The state experienced a rainfall deficit of 52%, with 68.2 mm average rains recorded from January 1 to February 17 against the normal rainfall of 142.2 mm. All districts, except Mandi, reported rainfall deficiencies ranging between 15% (Hamirpur) and 83% (Lahaul and Spiti).
Minimum temperatures remained above normal, with Keylong recording the lowest temperature in the region at minus 3.7 degrees, 6.3 degrees above normal, followed by Kusumseri at minus 3.2 degrees, Sumdo at minus 2.3 degrees, and Kalpa at 0.8 degrees.