Trees uprooted vehicles damaged as rain hailstorm lash Himachal MeT sounds yellow alert

     Shimla, April 19 (PTI) Rain and hailstorm accompanied by lightning on Friday lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh, including key tourist destinations of Manali and Shimla, uprooting trees and damaging vehicles, officials said.
     In Manali, a tree uprooted in the storm damaged nine vehicles and the roof of a house near Bhutnath temple. One person sitting inside a vehicle suffered injuries and was rushed to local hospital, they said.
     Intermittent rain accompanied by lightning and hailstorm lashed Shimla and surrounding areas and dark convective clods overcast the sky, reducing visibility to a few metres.
     Reports of trees being uprooted and hailstorm lashing several parts of the state have also poured in.
     The local meteorological station has predicted rain at isolated places in mid hills and rain or snowfall in the higher reaches at few places from April 20 to April 23.
     It has also issued a yellow warning of thunderstorm with lighting, hail and gusty winds at isolated places on April 22 and 23.
     Light to moderate rain occurred at several places in the state on Friday with Ghaghas being the wettest noting 19 mm rain, followed by Sundernagar recording 17.4 mm , Bharmour 13 mm, Dalhousie 9 mm, Berthin 8.2 mm, Bilaspur 8 mm, Jot 7.6 mm, Kasauli 8 mm and Shimla 7 mm.
     As many as 106 roads and three national highways, including the Gramphu-Losar and Darcha- Sarchu highways, were closed in Lahaul and Spiti district alone, according to the state emergency operation centre.
     The day temperatures crashed at few places and Chamba and Dalhousie recorded a high of 23 degrees Celsius and 11.3 degrees Celsius, which were 11.5 and 10 notches below normal, respectively.
     Dhaula Kuan was the hottest in the state with a high of 36.9 degrees Celsius, followed by 35 degrees Celsius in Una.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)