Shimla, Dec 9: In a first in many decades, the Himachal Pradesh capital and its nearby tourist resorts on Sunday evening experienced the season’s first snowfall in early December, with the hospitality industry eyeing a surge of tourists. 

"Shimla and its nearby areas have experienced light snowfall and this was the season's first snowfall in Shimla town,” an official of the Meteorological Department here told IANS.

Places near Shimla like Kufri and Narkanda have also been experiencing snowfall, turning the tourist destinations more picturesque.

As news of the snowfall spreads, tourists may flock to Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of its buildings that were once institutions of power when the town served as the summer capital of British India.

"It’s for the first time that we witnessed the snowfall in early December. As far as my memory goes, this is the season’s first snowfall in over two decades,” said Ganesh Sud, a local resident who has been settled in Shimla since the early 1990s.

"For the first time I am witnessing snowfall in early December," his college-going daughter Radhika added.

The snowy landscape in Shimla would stay for a few hours only as the minimum temperature was high, an official of the Met Office said. Reports said some of the areas in the apple belt Jubbal and Kharapathar also experienced snow.

"High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing snow," the official said.

The majestic Dhauladhar ranges in the Kangra valley got snow cover. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district also experienced snow. Lower areas of the state like Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns received rain, bringing down the temperature considerably. The Met Office has forecast that scattered rain or snow is likely in the state till Monday. After the opening of the skies, the minimum temperature across the state could plummet by three to four notches, a weatherman said.

--IANS