Biting cold persists in Himachal; dense fog alert issued

Biting cold conditions persisted in Himachal as the mercury hovered around the freezing point at most places, while dense fog engulfed the mid and lower hills, reducing visibility.
Two people were injured in a mishap when their car veered off the road due to thick fog in Rajgarh area of Sirmaur district, police said.
The high altitude tribal areas and mountain passes reeled under freezing cold with minimum temperatures ranging between minus 12 degrees Celsius and minus 19 degrees Celsius, while Keylong, Kalpa, Manali and Kufri recorded a low of minus 8. 2 degrees Celsius, minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees Celsius and minus 0.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Shimla, Sundernagar and Bhuntar shivered at 0.8 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees Celsius and 1.0 degrees Celsius, followed by Palampur and Solan at 2.0 degrees Celsius, Una at 3.8 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala at 4.2 degrees Celsius and Nahan at 4.7 degrees Celsius.
Keylong was the coldest during the day with a high of3.1 degrees Celsius while Dalhousie and Kalpa recorded maximum temperatures of 5.5 degrees Celsius and 8.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali at 12.0 degrees Celsius, Shimla at 12.7 degrees Celsius, Dharamshala at 14.8 degrees Celsius, Nahan at 16.4 degrees Celsius, Solan at 17.3 degrees Celsius, Una at 18.6 degrees Celsius, and Sundernagar and Bhuntar at 19.0 degrees Celsius.

Dense fog and ground frost occurred at many places during the early hours causing freezing and bursting of water pipes, and disruption of vehicular movement.
The local Met office has predicted rains or snow in the higher hills on January 30 and 31, and dry weather elsewhere in the state over the next six days.
The MeT office has also warned of dense fog at isolated places in the lower and mid hills tomorrow.