Snow, Rain Breaks Dry Spell in Himachal

Shimla: Temperatures dipped sharply as higher hills in Shimla, Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti reported a heavy round of snowfall, while the lower hills across the state received widespread rains bringing much needed respite to rabi crops.

Tourist getaways Kufri, Narkanda, Manali all experienced a snowfall through the day, keeping most residents and tourists indoors though some did brave the cold to venture out.

The snow that started falling in the morning, by evening at Kufri was recorded at over 10 centimeters. Weather station officer Manmohan Singh informed that snow has been reported from higher reaches of Kullu, Shimla, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti. Lower hills across the state were experiencing rains, he said.

Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul from Kullu and Pangi-Bharmour in Chamba were reported to be experiencing heavy snow. Traffic on the highway to Kinnaur was hindered at Kufri and Narkanda. Traffic was also reported to have been disrupted at Kharapattar connecting Kothkhai with Jubbal in Shimla Hills.

Day temperature here that was recorded at 17.2 degree Celsius on Saturday, plummeted to 11.7 degrees, while the night temperatures recorded a low of 7.1 degrees.

Bhuntar in Kullu, which had a day temperature of 20.6 degree Celsius on Saturday had dropped to 14.8 degrees today and the night low was 7 degrees Celsius.

The high altitudes zones of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti were in the grip of severe cold conditions with Kalpa, district headquarter of Kinnaur recorded a high of 2 and a low of subzero – 3.2 degree Celsius and in Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti the high was minus 1.7 and al low of minus 8.3 degree Celsius, the weather station reported.

The weatherman has forecast more snow over the next two days in higher hills and rain in the lower regions.

Photos by: Amit Kanwar

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