Shimla, May 28 (PTI) A severe hailstorm followed by sharp showers lashed Shimla and surrounding areas on Wednesday afternoon while light to moderate rains occurred at isolated places in of Himachal Pradesh, the weather office said.
The sky remained overcast and visibility was reduced to few meters as hailstorm and rains forced a large number of tourists and locals to rush indoors.
The local meteorological centre issued a 'yellow' warning for thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds at speeds of 40 to 50 kilometre per hour at isolated places of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts from May 29 to June 1 along with a wet spell in the region till June 3.
Bhuntar was the wettest in the state with 17.2 mm of rainfall followed by 11.2 mm each in Bajaura and Berthin, 11.1 mm Kataula, 10.8 mm in Nahan, 10.4 mm in Kandaghat, 8.0 mm in Banjar, 7 mm in Kangra, 6.8 mm in Tinder, 6.2 mm in Solan, 5.4 mm in Seobagh and 5 mm in Shimla, it said.
Light rainfall is likely at isolated places over mid and higher hills on Thursday and Friday, the Met said, adding that light to moderate rainfall is predicted at few places from May 30 to June 1.
The temperature rose marginally in lower hills with Una being the hottest during the day at 40.6 degrees Celsius while Keylong was the coldest at night with a low of 6.8 degrees Celsius.