Shimla, Feb 21 (IANS): Popular tourist destinations Shimla and Kufri again received snowfall on Friday, while the lower hills across Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rain, bringing the temperature down by several notches.

Towns in upper Shimla district were cut off temporarily with snow cover piled on roads, officials said.

Hoteliers welcomed the snowfall as they looked forward more tourist footfalls this weekend.

Tourist spots near Shimla like Fagu and Narkanda looked even more picturesque after significant snowfall. In Shimla the snow largely melted. However, in Kufri and Narkanda it would stay for much longer duration.

With 3 cm of snow, the minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at 0.2 degrees Celsius. It was 23 cm snow in Kufri, just 13 km uphill from the state capital.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 3.7 degrees Celsius. It was 6.6 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala, 0.8 degree in Kalpa and 4 degrees Celsius in Manali.

Dharamsala and Nahan towns had 10.6 mm and 16.7 mm rain respectively.

Meanwhile, traffic movement beyond Dhalli, 10 km from Shimla, was temporarily suspended as a large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road was under a thick blanket of snow.

The Met Office said a Western disturbance -- a storm system originating from the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- would remain active till Sunday, bringing in its wake more rain and snow.