In Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, people got relief from the heat due to rain in many areas amidst orange alert of thunderstorm and hailstorm. Snowfall occurred in upper reaches of Kinnaur, Shimla, Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi and Chamba. Strong winds blew and hailstorm also occurred at many places. Due to this change in weather the cold has increased again. At the same time, the weather is expected to remain bad across the state till March 21. Meteorological Center Shimla has issued an orange alert of thunderstorm and hailstorm on March 19.
Due to snowfall on Sunday, 10,280 feet high Jalori Pass in Kullu district was closed. Traffic on Highway-305 came to a standstill due to snowfall that started after rain in the afternoon. Due to this, three HRTC buses and one private bus got stuck. At the same time, 69 panchayats were cut off from the district headquarters. Ten centimeters of snowfall was recorded here. Snow fell in Narkanda in Shimla, while hailstorm occurred in Kufri.
There was rain and hailstorm in many panchayats of Rajgarh area of Sirmaur district on Sunday afternoon. Apart from the pea crop, the peach crop was also damaged due to this. 7 cm of snow fell in the religious place Shikari Devi and 5 cm of snow fell in Shaitadhar. There was snowfall on the high peaks of Kinnaur including Nako. It rained till late evening in Reckong Peo, Kalpa and Sangla. Snowfall also occurred in other higher areas of Shimla including Narkanda, Hatu Peak, Kotkhai, Shrikoti, while rain continued in the lower areas including Rampur in the afternoon.
Snowfall occurred on Kailash, Kugti, Chaubia, Daruni, Kali Chhau and other high peaks of Manimahesh area of Chamba district. Snowfall also occurred in many higher reaches of Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti, while rain turned the weather cool in the lower reaches of Kullu-Manali. Slippery increased due to snowfall on Manali-Leh road from Dhundi to Atal Tunnel. As a precautionary measure, the police stopped ordinary vehicles at Solanganala and only four-by-four vehicles were allowed to move further.
Light rain occurred in Hamirpur and Una districts on Sunday. There was snowfall on Dhauladhar hills and light rain with strong wind in lower areas. However, farmers and gardeners were disappointed due to lack of adequate rain in the plains, as wheat and fruit plants need good rain at this time.
1,000 small and big tourist vehicles stranded
Atal Tunnel has received about 15 cm snowfall till Sunday night. A white sheet of snow has spread from the South Portal of Atal Tunnel to Solanganala. Due to accumulation of snow on the road, about 1,000 small and big tourist vehicles are stuck from the South Portal of Atal Tunnel to Dhundhi. Thousands of tourists remained stranded due to this. Manali Police has launched a rescue operation to free the vehicles. This campaign continued till late evening.