Heat wave conditions in lower hills of HP as dry spell continues

Heat wave conditions likely in lower hills of Himachal Pradesh over the next three days due to rise in mercury and continued dry weather in the region.

The MeT office has predicted dry weather in the lower hills over the next six days and rains and thundershowers in mid hills on May 28 and 29 and rains or snow in higher hills on May 29 and dry weather on rest of days.

The local MeT office has warned of heat wave in lower hills for the next three days, officials said.

The mercury stayed at 43 degrees Celsius at Una in Shiwalik foothills while Sundernagar, Nahan and Bhuntar recorded a high of 38.1 degrees Celsius, 36.6 degrees Celsius and 36.2 degrees Celsius respectively.

Bhuntar was followed by Solan at 34.6 degrees Celsius,Palampur 33.2 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala 32.8 degrees Celsius, Shimla 28.5 degrees Celsius, Manali 26.4 degrees Celsius, Kalpa 23.0 degrees Celsius and Keylong 17.1 degrees Celsius, the officials said.

Meanwhile, officials said forest fires were raging in several parts of the state in pine forests due to sudden rise in mercury.

The forest department has alerted the field staff and asked the staff to draw the fire lines to prevent fires. The dry pine needles are highly inflammable and due to rise in mercury, minor negligence may cause major fires, an official of the forest department said.

There was no significant change in night temperatures and Keylong, Manali and Kalpa recorded minimum temperatures at 6.3 degrees Celsius, 8.0 degrees Celsius and 8.6 degrees Celsius while Nahan, Dharamsala, Una and Palampur were hotter at night with a low of 24.1 degrees Celsius, 21.4 degrees Celsius, 20.7 degrees Celsius and 20.5 degree Celsius respectively.