Tourists thronging to Shimla for White Christmas may be disappointed this year as there are no chances of snowfall due to prevailing dry weather conditions in Himachal Pradesh.

According to the Shimla Metereological Department forecast for coming days, there are less chances of snow in New Year too and the dry weather conditions are likely to prevail during next 10 days.

The hills queen Shimla’s wait for White Christmas has only been stretched further by climate change and global warming with last snow on Christmas recorded 24 years ago.

Nowadays, Shimla is witnessing pleasant sunny weather conditions with maximum temperature being recorded at 22 degree celsius and minimum at 13 degree celsius.

In 2015, season’s first snowfall was recorded on December 13-14, though snowfall eluded the town on Christmas and New Year.

Talking to The Statesman, Shimla Metereological Department director Manmohan Singh said, dry weather conditions are likely to prevail in the state during the next few days.

"There are very less chances of any rain or snow in the coming 10 days in the state,” he added.

Singh said it was after 15 years that the state has witnessed no rain or snow in the months of October, November and December.

The lack of snow might have dampened the spirits of tourists who throng the hill capital for snow but overall, Shimla and other tourist spots as Manali and Kufri are witnessing footfall of tourists, though it is 20-30 per cent less than usual.

“The hotels in Shimla have already witnessed 60-70 per cent advance bookings for winter vacations that are scheduled to begin from 25th December,” said Sanjay Sood, the President of Hotel and Restaurants Association, North India.

Sood added the number of tourists are likely to rise in coming days due to winter vacations in schools.

“We are quite optimistic that the hotels in Shimla and other tourists spots in the state would record 100 percent occupancy in coming days,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that there has been consistent decline in snowfall in Himachal since 1990 with Shimla only receiving 100 cm snow.

A report by State Centre on Climate Change reveals that Shimla and Solan received 190.53 cm snowfall during 1973-75 but since then, it witnessed considerable decline over the years with only 19 cm snowfall recorded in 2009, which was the lowest.