While the pictures of the snow-clad state of Himachal Pradesh may be a tempting option for a visit, the reality of it is much different. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week (January 7 and 8), Shimla was buried under a thick coat of snow, recorded at 20 cm. Besides Shimla, Kufri, Manali, Dalhousie and Kalpa were also some of the tourist attractions were also under a dense cover of snow. The Indian Meterology Department has issued an orange warning, expecting heavy rainfall and snow on January 13. Despite the calm weather on Thursday and Friday (January 9 and 10), the weather is expected to worsen later in the week. 

According to a Facebook post by Shimla police on January 10, the roads are covered by the hail storm and fog, and cars are advised to maintain caution on the paths. The page also featured the advisory issued by IMD. 

According to news reports, 879 roads in the state were blocked post-snowfall on Wednesday. The lowest temperature was recorded in the Lahaul-Spiti&rsquos administration centre Keylong, at minus 14.6 degrees celsius. Work on removing snow from roads is already underway. However, power and water supplies in the state have been affected.  

Colour-coded warnings are issued by the IMD to warn people of upcoming weather that may cause &ldquodamage, widespread disruption, or damage to life&rdquo. Orange warnings refer to the capacity of the weather to impact significantly. While heavy snowfall, hailstorms and thunderstorms and lighting are expected to make an appearance on January 12 and 13, the orange warning has only been issued for the latter date. 

Recently, the Northern region of India has faced extreme cold waves, resulting in a winter unseen in decades.

With inputs from PTI