Moderate to heavy rains lashed most areas of Punjab Haryana and the hill state of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, bringing down temperatures across the northern region.
While Chandigarh was lashed by heavy rains since morning which continued throughout the day, Bathinda, Mohali, Ropar, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Moga, ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab were among the other places lashed by rains.
Ambala, Kurukshetra, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Karnal in Haryana also received rains.
According to the MeT department, the maximum temperature also dropped by few notches after the downpour.
Hailstorm also lashed some places in Punjab, including Phagwara, ringing alarm bells for the farmers as it caused some harm to the standing wheat crop. If heavy rains persist and are followed by strong winds, it could flatten the wheat crop affecting the grain quality. The unseasonal rain was also harmful for other crops.
In the hill State of Himachal Pradesh, it was rain in the lower areas and snowfall in the upper parts causing landslides in some areas and blocking the roads, while the higher reaches saw snowfall, officials said.
While Bharmour town in Chamba district recorded the highest rainfall in the State at 150 mm, it was 62.4 mm in picturesque tourist resort Manali, 40.4 mm in Dharamsala and 91 mm in Dalhousie. Bharmour also saw five cm of snow.
State capital Shimla saw 20.1 mm rain and the temperature hit a low of 6.4 degrees Celsius. An official of the local Met Office said there are chances of heavy rainfall at some places in the State till Sunday.
Incessant rains have also caused landslides in Shimla, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kullu districts, hampering vehicular traffic. Keylong, headquarters of lahaul-Spiti district, was the coldest at a minimum temperature of minus 0.7 degree Celsius. It saw 30.5 cm of snow.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which saw four cm of snow, recorded a low of 0.2 degree Celsius, while the temperature was 9.8 degrees in Dharamsala.