The Meteorological Office here has forecast a wet spell in Himachal Pradesh till June 4 and issued an alert for thunderstorms, lightning and winds with speed of 40-50 kmph across the district, as a bout of snowstorm and rain hit the state capital and adjoining areas on Friday evening.
A stormy weather warning has been issued for 10 districts, except Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, for Saturday (May 30).
Light to moderate rain and snow are likely in a few places on May 30, while light rain and snow are likely in isolated places between May 31 and June 4, the Met said.
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A hailstorm accompanied by heavy rain hit the state capital Shimla and its adjoining areas on Friday evening. Dark clouds were low and visibility had dropped to a few metres, forcing vehicles to slow to a crawl.
Isolated areas in Sirmaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts witnessed light rainfall in the 24 hours since Thursday evening. Nahan in Sirmaur received 14.2 mm of rain, followed by Pawanta Sahib 6.4 mm, Dawlaquan 3.5 mm, Kalpa 2.5 mm, Kukumsiri 2.1 mm, Keylong 2 mm, while Renuka and Gatun Parag saw 1 mm rainfall each.
Himachal Pradesh received 202.1 mm of rain during the pre-monsoon season from March 1 to May 29, against normal rainfall of 237.1 mm, a deficit of 15 per cent.
On Friday, Keelung experienced the coldest night, recording a low of 3.5 degrees Celsius, while Onna was the hottest during the day, recording a maximum temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius.
