Hailstorm in Shimla, rain across Himachal Pradesh

Shimla and its surrounding area of Jubbarhatti were lashed by hailstorm, while several places in Himachal Pradesh received rains, the weather office said on Friday.

Gusty winds swept Kufri, Bilapsur, Reckong Peo, Bajura, Narkanada and Tabo, while a thunderstorm occurred in Shimla, Jubbarhatti, Sundernagar, Jot, Bhuntar, Murari Devi, Kufri and Kangra, the Met said.

Since Thursday evening, Solan received 39mm of rainfall followed by Ghaghas 33.8mm, Raipur Maidan 26.6mm, Bilapsur 26mm, Rajgarh 25mm, Mehre Barsar 25mm, Pachhad 20mm, Olinda 17.8 mm, Kufri and Neri 17mm each, Slapper 16.9mm and Shimla 11mm.

The meteorological department has issued an orange alert of hailstorm at isolated places in the state and orange and yellow warning of thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-50 kmph till next Thursday.

The minimum temperature dropped by 2-5 degrees Celsius at many places in the state and Tabo in Lahaul and Spiti recorded a low of 5.6 degree Celsius.

In its outlook for May, the weather department said the mean maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to stay above normal in the plains and adjoining mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh. Above normal rainfall is also likely over many parts of low hills/plains and adjoining mid hills of the state.

Gurdaspur, Hisar get maximum rain in Punjab, Haryana

Overnight rains and strong winds in many parts of Punjab and Haryana brought temperatures down slightly in the two states. Hisar, Faridabad and Gurdaspur received the most rainfall, the weather department said in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh received 12.9mm of rainfall, while Hisar got 40.6mm, Faridabad 29mm, Gurugram 26.5mm, Rohtak 16.2mm, Bhiwani 10.8mm.

In Punjab, Gurdaspur recorded 44.2mm of rainfall, Bathinda 29mm, Amritsar 24.8mm, Faridkot 14.6mm, Ferozepur 13.5mm and Patiala 13mm.