Shimla, Jan 13 (IANS): Popular tourist destination Manali received more snowfall, while lower hills across Himachal Pradesh were lashed by mild rains, bringing the temperature down by several notches, the weather bureau said on Monday.

Meteorological office director Manmohan Singh told IANS heavy snowfall might occur in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba districts till Wednesday.

Hoteliers are very pleased with fresh snowfall as they hope more tourists will flock the hilly state.

Shimla and its nearby tourist spots such as Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda, which are still marooned with last week's snow cover, are likely to get more snow, an official of the Meteorological Department here told IANS.

Manali and its uphill Solang ski slopes and Kalpa, 250 km from the state capital, saw fresh spells snowfall in the past 24 hours.

"The higher reaches have been experiencing moderate to heavy snowfall since Sunday, while mid and lower hills recieved rainfall," he added.

The minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at 7.7 degrees Celsius, a rise from Sunday's 5.1 degrees.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 6 degrees Celsius. It experienced 45 cm snow.

It was 4.8 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala, minus 3.3 degrees Celsius in Kalpa, which saw 15.2 cm snow. It was 4.2 degrees in Dalhousie and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius in Manali.

Bharmour and Dalhousie, both in Chamba district, experienced 15.2 mm and 4 mm of rain, respectively.