No snow in store for Himachal before New Year

Hills stations across Himachal Pradesh Monday saw partly cloudy skies with temperatures at most places remaining below sub-zero even though the Met Office did not forecast rain or snow before the New Year dawns.

"There are chances of snowfall across the state as the western disturbances will be active in the state from Jan 3," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.

The term western disturbances is used for storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea in Central Asia and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

He said the probability of snowfall in Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Manali, Kalpa and Dalhousie are high after Jan 3.

Certain locations in Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda and Manali, though, are still wrapped under the blanket of snow that fell during mid December.

Shimla recorded a low of 3.1 degrees Celsius while Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 8.1 degrees Celsius.

It was 4.4 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala, minus 0.6 degrees in Kalpa, minus 0.8 degrees in Manali and 2.9 degrees in Dalhousie.