There was no let-up in the cold wave sweeping across Himachal Pradesh as the state braved sub-zero temperatures after a fresh spell of snow and rains on Saturday. The higher reaches of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts received snowfall in the last 24 hours.
The tourist towns of Manali and Chamba got 9mm of rainfall followed by Dalhousie with 8mm rain. Palampur, Bhunter and Kangra experienced 1mm of rainfall each. The meteorological department has forecast more snow in the higher and middle hills and rain in the plains on Saturday.
However, there is disappointing news for tourists planning to visit Himachal Pradesh on Christmas as the weatherman has forecast dry weather next week.
“The sky will remain clear Sunday onwards and there will be no western disturbance next week across Himachal,” Shimla meteorological centre director Manmohan Singh said, adding that the night temperature is also likely to see a dip due to the clear sky.
LAHAUL-SPITI, KINNAUR
COLDEST DISTRICTS
Keylong, the administrative centre of Lahaul-Spiti district, was the coldest place in the state on Saturday with a minimum temperature of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. It recorded a maximum temperature of 1.3 degrees.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 0.6, while the high was 7.6 degrees Celsius.
The minimum in Kufri was zero degrees and the maximum 6.1 degrees Celsius.
The state capital of Shimla recorded a low of 3.4 and a high of 15.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperatures in hill stations of Manali, Dharamshala and Dalhousie were 0, 1.8 and 0°C, respectively. The maximum temperature in the three towns was 9, 8.8 and 6.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Bilaspur was the warmest place with a high of 20 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperatures were normal but the maximum temperatures were up to 7 degrees below normal.
