Nestled on the edge of the Himalayas and surrounded by cedar forests, the beauty of the hillside city in Himachal Pradesh gets enhanced by Monsoon rains. As of now, Monsoon seems to be vigorous over Dharamsala. The city has received 166.6 mm of rains in a span of 24 hours from 8.30 am on Thursday.
Dharamsala normally receives very good rains during the four-month-long Monsoon season. The monthly average for July itself is 848.3 mm. Therefore, three-digit rains are nothing unusual in the city.
In the hills, movement of the cumulonimbus clouds is less as compared to the plains. Most of the water content in these clouds are depleted over a small region, bringing intense rains. Therefore, on Thursday Dharamsala received very heavy showers while rest of the places in the state received just light showers. For instance, Shimla received 12.8 mm while Manali recorded 12.4 mm of rainfall.
At present, Himachal Pradesh is rainfall deficient by 2%. But, now we expect moderate to heavy rainfall in the state during next 24 to 48 hours. This could be due to the shifting of the axis of the Monsoon trough, towards the foothills of the Himalayas. Good Monsoon showers will continue from July 17 to 18. By the end of this rainy spell, we expect that rainfall deficiency will mitigate.
With heavy rains in the hills, we can also expect landslides, flash floods and cloudbursts over the state during next 3 to 4 days. Travel and tourism should be avoided in Himachal Pradesh for the time being.
Image Credit: mapsofindia.com
Please Note: Any information picked from here can be attributed to skymetweather.com