Himachal Pradesh reels under biting cold wave conditions

The mid and higher hills and tribal areas in Himachal Pradesh continued to reel under cold wave conditions as the region received rainfall and snow for the fourth day today, officials said.
The Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) had another spell of moderate snowfall and the pass was closed, cutting off the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district from the rest of the state.
Solang Nallah, Mari and other high altitude areas received fresh snowfall and Kalpa and Rekong Peo in Kinnaur recorded 27 cm and 9 cm of snow, followed by Keylong 8 cm and Gondla and Kothi 6 cm while Narkanda and Kufri had snowfall, the local MeT said.

The mercury plummeted in tribal areas and mid and higher hills hovered around freezing point in tribal areas while it stayed three to five degrees below normal at several places, it said.
Keylong was coldest in the region with minimum temperature at minus 2.1 degrees Celsius while Kalpa recorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali 1.6 degrees Celsius, Bhuntar 4.1 degrees Celsius, Sumndernagar 4.5 degrees Celsius, Solan 5.4 degrees Celsius, Shimla 5.9 degrees Celsius, Palampur 6.7 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala 8.2 degrees Celsius and Una 8.5 degrees Celsius.
Key tourist destination of Manali recorded 18 mm rains, followed by Kothi 12 mm, Bhuntar 10 mm, Seobagh 9 mm Kotkhai 5 mm and Janjehliand Salooni 4 mm.

Fog engulfed the region and strong winds lashed the region under heavily overcast sky, making people shiver even in heavy woolens.
The local MeT office has forecast dry weather in the region from November 20 to November 25 but a fresh western disturbance (WD) would affect the region from November 24.
About four dozen people were stranded due to snowfall in Lahaul and have been brought safely to Udaipur. The names of all stranded persons have been put on the website, Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner Deva Singh Negi said.