Himachal shivers under biting cold

Most parts of Himachal Pradesh shivered under biting cold wave as the mercury hovered around freezing point in several places.
Lower hill areas like Bhuntar, Solan and Una experienced the coldest night of the season with mercury dipping to minus 0.4 degree, Solan 0.5 degree and 1.4 degrees Celsius.
Water pipes froze and burst at several places and a thick fog engulfed the towns along the river banks while ground frost occurred at many places, affecting vehicular traffic in the morning hours.
The high altitude tribal areas and mountain passes groaned under arctic-like conditions with mercury staying 14 to 21 degrees Celsius below freezing point while Keylong, Kalpa and Manali recorded a low of minus 9.4 degrees, minus 3.4 degrees and minus 2.2 degrees respectively.

State capital Shimla shivered at 2.9 degrees while Palampur recorded the minimum temperature at 3.5 degrees, followed by Dharamsala 5.2 degrees and Nahan 5.7 degrees Celsius.
All natural sources of water like springs, lakes and tributaries of major rivers and the 70-km stretch of Chandrabhaga River in tribal areas were frozen for past seven weeks, drastically reducing the discharge of water and affecting hydro power generation.
There was no significant change in day temperatures and Una in Shivalik foothills was warmest in the region with a maximum temperature of 23.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Sundernagar 20.4 degrees, Bhuntar 18.4 degrees, Solan 17.4 degrees, Nahan 16.5 degrees, Dharamshala14.6 degrees, Shimla 13.5 degrees andKalpa10.2 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT offices has predicted Rains or snow at isolated places in the higher hills tomorrow and dry weather in the state over the next six days upto January 10.