Snow, rains bring down mercury in Himachal

Snow and widespread rains on Saturday brought down temperatures across Himachal Pradesh, a Met official said.

While the tourist resorts of Shimla and Manali witnessed rains, other hill stations like Kalpa and Chitkul in Kinnaur district and Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti received the season's heaviest snow, the official said.

Manali town, which saw a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, experienced 40 mm of rain, the highest in the state.

The state capital saw mild rains and recorded the minimum temperature at 7.3 degrees.

Keylong, which saw a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius, recorded 32 cm of snow, the state's highest. Kalpa, some 250 km from here, saw 4.2 cm of snow.

The majestic Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet), located 52 km from Manali, also received snow, according to reports.

Dharamsala town saw five mm of rain and recorded the minimum temperature at 11.8 degrees Celsius, while Dalhousie had 10 mm of rain with a low of 5.3 degrees.

--IANS

vg/ksk