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The tourist town of Shimla received no snowfall during the month of January this year, the phenomenon occurring after a gap of 11 years.
Manali, too, got no snowfall this January after a gap of three years and the total monthly precipitation in the state was deficient by 58 per cent, the meteorological centre at Shimla Monday said in its monthly report.
Last year, Shimla received 97 centimetres of snow and the last time the state capital saw no snow in January was in 2010, the weather report said. This winter, snowfall occurred in Shimla only once on the night of December 27, when the town recorded nine centimetres of snow.
The state received around 38 mm of rain/snow this January in two spells, with all 12 districts recording a deficit rainfall. The deficiency was the highest in the districts of Solan (65 per cent), Shimla (65 per cent), Bilaspur (66 per cent) and Mandi (73 per cent).
The two spells of precipitation occurred from January 2 to 7 and on January 24, when places such as Kalpa, Gondla, Kothi, Bharmaur, Khadrala and Keylong received a significant amount of snow. Kalpa and Keylong received 106 cm and 62 cm snow respectively this month. Among the places which received a significant amount of rain were Ghumarwin, Manali, Dehra Gopipur and Dalhousie.
Deficiency in winter rain/snow in Himachal is usually believed to portend water shortage during summer, when water sources in the state start drying up. Inadequate snowfall also affects the apple plant, which requires a certain minimum number of chilling hours during the winter.
In December, too, the total rain/snowfall in the state was 22 per cent less than normal, while in November, it was 112 per cent above normal, according to the meteorological centre.
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