Temperature plummets in Himachal after rain

"The entire hill state witnessed moderate rain Friday with the temperatures plummeting five to nine degrees," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.
He said Shimla town recorded 18 mm of rain, while Kullu, Bilaspur, Dalhousie, Dharamsala, Kufri, Mandi, Narkanda and Palampur towns respectively saw 18 mm, 24 mm, 18 mm, 20 mm, 22 mm, 12 mm, 28 mm and 16 mm of rain.
Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 18.1 degrees Celsius Friday, a fall by 6.1 degrees from Thursday's."

Likewise, Sundernagar in Mandi district saw a high of 25 degrees Celsius, while it was 21.6 degrees in Bhuntar in Kullu district and 27.4 degrees in Dharamsala and Una towns.
These towns Thursday saw maximum temperatures of 33.7 degrees Celsius, 30.8 degrees, 32.4 degrees and 36.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Also, widespread rain has doused numerous forest fires in the state.
"The dry and hot conditions had caused forest fires in the mid and lower hill areas, particularly the pine forests. All major fires have been quelled," said Avtar Singh, chief conservator (forest protection and fire control)."

He said 5,653 hectares of forests have been destroyed in 499 fire incidents from April 1 to May 6. In 2009-10, 1,906 fire incidents had burnt down 24,849 hectares of forests.
According to him, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, Kangra, Sirmaur, Solan, Mandi and Shimla are the worst affected districts in the state.