Shimla, April 12 (PTI) Rain lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh since Friday evening while some places in Lahaul and Spiti district witnessed light snowfall, the local MeT office said on Saturday.

The wet spell led to increased tourist footfall and frequent traffic snarls in the state capital Shimla as visitors looking for respite from heat in the plains made a beeline for the hill stations.

“With winds and rain, it is such a beautiful weather here but the traffic moving at a snail’s pace in Shimla city is causing inconvenience,” said Prateek and Preetha, a couple from Faridabad.

The MeT office had issued an orange alert predicting thunderstorm, lightning and hail at isolated places in eight revenue districts — Una, Bilapsur, Hamirpur, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur — for Saturday. A yellow warning for thunderstorms and lightning was issued in Chamba and Kullu districts.

According to the MeT office, Kukumseri received 7 cm of snow, Gondhla 3 cm and Keylong 1 cm. Gusty winds with a speed of 40-60 kilometre per hour were witnessed in Bajaura, Bilapsur, Seobagh, Kotkhai, Kufri, Reckong Peo and Tabo while thunderstorms lashed state capital Shimla, Sundernagar, Kangra, Jubbarhatti and Bhuntar.

Light to moderate rains lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh.

Dharamshala, which recorded 40 mm of rain, was the wettest in the state, followed by Jogindernagar and Baijnath with 32 mm rain each, Solan (26.6mm), Jot (24.4 mm), Dalhousie (22 mm), Palampur (19.2 mm), Mandi (14.8 mm), Jubbarhatti (14.1 mm), Jatton Barrage Malraon and Sundernagar (14 mm each), Chamba (11 mm), Bharmour (10.5), Kothi (10.2 mm) and Shimla (9.4 mm).

A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the Western Himalayan region from April 16, the MeT office said, predicting light precipitation at isolated areas on Wednesday and Thursday.

There was an appreciable fall in the minimum and maximum temperatures and Keylong, at 0.1 degrees Celsius, was the coldest at night while Bilaspur was hottest during the day with a high of 30.5 degree Celsius.

The rain deficit from March 1 to April 12 stood at 39 per cent as the state received 84.3 mm of rain against normal rainfall of 138.8 mm. PTI BPL RUK RUK