Cold wave aggravates as mercury stays below normal in Himachal

The intense cold condition continued without any respite in Himachal Pradesh as mercury stayed below normal and several towns in the lower hills shivered under piercing cold wave.
The key tourist resort of Manali recorded a low of minus 1 degree Celsius while mercury hovered around freezing point at Bhuntar which recorded minimum temperature at minus 0.2 degree, followed by Chamba and Sundernagar 1.1 degree.
Solan experienced the coldest night of the season with minimum temperature at 1.4 degree, two degree below normal while Una and Nahan recorded minimum temperatures at 2.8 degree and 4.9 degree.
Palampur, Dharamsala and Shimla recorded low of 5.7 degree, 6.8 degree and 9.7 degree C, respectively.

The mercury stayed at minus 6.6 degree and minus 0.6 degree at Keylong and Kalpa in tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur while high altitude tribal area and mountain passes groaned under biting cold wave conditions with night temperatures ranging between minus 10 and minus 15 degree C.
All natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets, tributaries and 70-km stretch of Chandrabhaga river were frozen for past three weeks, causing sharp fall in discharge of water in snow-fed Sutlej, Beas and Ravi Rivers.

Consequently, the hydropower generation has been reduced by 25 per cent of the installed capacity in all the projects in the state.

The maximum day temperatures also dropped by a few notches as sky remained partially overcast and strong velocity wind swept the region.
Sundernagar was hottest in the region with maximum temperature at 22.8 degree while Kangra, Solan and Una recorded a high of 21.6 degree, followed by Bhuntar 20.6 degree, Shimla 20.4 degree, Dharamsala 17.4 degree, Nahan 17.1 degree and Kalpa 13.8 degree Celsius.