Shimla:The weather today remained mainly dry across Himachal Pradesh as monsoon in the state weakened, raising the day temperature by a few notches.
Barring Jogindernagar and Arki areas which recorded 30 mm and 7 mm rainfall, weather remained dry.
Rain deficit in the state from June 1 to July 20 increased to 24 per cent.
The state received 217.9 mm average rainfall compared to normal rainfall of 285.3, a deficit of 24 per cent. Nine out of 12 districts received deficit rainfall.
Solan and Shimla received 26 per cent and 7 per cent excess rains while Mandi had normal rainfall.
However, tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur and Chamba had 93, 59 and 51 per cent deficit rains followed by Sirmaur (-19 per cent), Kullu (-17 per cent), Hamirpur and Kangra (-12 per cent) while rain deficit was negligible eight per cent and two per cent in Bilaspur and Una districts.
The day temperatures rose by few notches and people in lower hills reeled under sultry heat with Una recording a high of 36.6 degree Celsius, followed by Bhuntar 34.5 degree Celsius, Sundernagar 33.7 degree Celsius, Solan and Nahan 30 degree Celsius, Dharamsala 28.4 degree Celsius, Manali 26 degree Celsius, Kalpa 24.9 degree Celsius and Shimla 24.6 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperatures dropped to 11 degree Celsius, 11.6 degree Celsius and 13.6 degree Celsius at Keylong, Kalpa and Manali respectively but remained steady in rest of the state with Una hottest during the night with a low of 25.7 degree Celsius.
The MeT office has predicted rains at few places in lower, mid and higher hills during next six days from tomorrow onwards.