Himachal Pradesh braces for heavy rain, hailstorm and thunderstorm; IMD issues orange alert for Oct 6

Himachal rain

Himachal Pradesh, where the southwest monsoon had withdrawn by September end, is heading for a fresh wet spell from October 5.

The meteorological station in Shimla on Saturday issued an orange alert, warning of hail, heavy to very rain, thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with speeds ranging from 40 to 50 kilometres per hour (kmph) at isolated places in six districts on October 6.

It issued a yellow warning for heavy rain, thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with speeds at 30-40 kmph at isolated places in all the 12 districts on October 5. The orange warning has been issued for Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Sirmaur, and Lahaul and Spiti districts on October 6.

A yellow alert was issued for Una, Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts on October 7.

The Met office also predicted light to moderate rains at most places with one or two spells of heavy rains across the state on October 6 and 7 and at a few places on October 7 and 8.

The weather remained mostly dry in the state on Saturday. The maximum temperature stayed 2-3 degrees above normal, while there was no significant change in the minimum temperature.

Una and Seobagh were the hottest in the state with maximum temperature of 34 degrees in each, followed by Neri at 33.1 degrees, Bilaspur 33 degrees, Dharamshala 28.1 degrees, Shimla 22.6 degrees and Manali 22.5 degrees.