Shimla experienced an unexpected January heatwave on Saturday, as temperatures soared to 23.1°C, the highest for the month so far. This surpassed the previous day’s high of 22°C, briefly holding the record. Simultaneously, Solan reached a historic 29°C on January 4, marking the hottest January temperature ever recorded in Himachal Pradesh, breaking the previous record of 27.5°C set on January 26, 2007.

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Other regions also reported unusually high temperatures. Hamirpur recorded 27.4°C, Barthin saw 27.5°C, Sundernagar reached 26.0°C, and Jubbarhatti recorded 25.4°C. However, the minimum temperature in Shimla was 10.4°C, while Kufri recorded 10.9°C.

In a dramatic shift, the Meteorological Department has issued yellow and orange alerts for heavy rain, snowfall, and thunderstorms across the state due to an impending western disturbance.

On January 5, a yellow alert was issued for Hamirpur, Chamba, Kangra, and Lahaul-Spiti, warning of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. The following day, January 6, the alert was escalated to orange for regions including Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, and Chamba. Middle and high-altitude areas are expected to receive light to moderate snowfall from January 5 to January 7, with heavy snowfall predicted for tourist destinations such as Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Dalhousie, and Manali.

The current period of above-normal temperatures is expected to end soon, with minimum temperatures in the middle and high mountain areas likely to drop by 4-5°C in the next two to three days. Maximum temperatures could also fall by 5-6°C. Widespread rainfall is predicted to begin on the afternoon of January 5 and continue through the morning of January 6, followed by heavy snowfall in higher elevations.

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