With weekends approaching, people in the plains are expected to head for the hills as there was more snowfall in the picturesque tourist resorts of Manali and the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. Apart from snow in higher reaches, there was widespread rainfall in the low and mid hills. The chill would extend over the weekend as snow and thundershowers would continue in the state till Friday.
The minimum temperature in Shimla, which received 4.6 mm rain, was recorded at minus 0.2 degree Celsius. Popular tourist resort Manali, which received 13 cm snow and 20 mm rain, recorded the night temperature at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius. Shimla's nearby tourist spots Kufri and Narkanda also received fresh spell of snowfall.
The high hills in lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu, Shimla and Chamba districts have been experiencing moderate to heavy snowfall since Wednesday. The government has advised the local residents and tourists not to venture out in the high hills of Shimla, Kullu, Chamba, lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts as chances of heavy snowfall and avalanches are high till Friday. Even the snow-bound areas near the tourist resort of Manali like Solang, Beas Kund, Nehru Kund and Kothi have been declared avalanche-prone.