The picturesque tourist resorts of Shimla and Manali experienced a sunny day on Tuesday but the mercury hovered near the freezing point with more snow and rain forecast this week, the Met said.

The state capital recorded a minimum of 2 degrees Celsius, while it was 0.2 degree in Manali, an official of the India Meteorological Department here told IANS.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw 3 cm of snow in the past 24 hours since Monday, the state's highest. It was minus 3 degrees Celsius there.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest at minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, while the temperature was 0.9 degree in Dalhousie, minus 1.8 degrees in Kufri and 5.2 degrees in Dharamsala.

Sundernagar town in Mandi district saw 28.7 mm of rain.

The Met said a western disturbance -- a storm system originating from the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- would be active again in the region on Wednesday with chances of widespread rain and snow.

--IANS

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