Parts of HP feel the chill; temp dips below freezing point

High altitude and hilly parts of Himachal Pradesh bore the brunt of cold wave as temperature hovered around 2 to 4 degree Celsius below the freezing point, setting tone for cold season in north India.
In spite of dry weather in the region, the mercury dropped further and stayed 3 to 7 deg C below the freezing point in high altitude tribal areas. It dipped to 2.5 deg C and 3.6 deg C at Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti and Kalpa in Kinnaur district.
Tourist resorts Manali and Solan recorded minimum temperatures at 5.2 deg C and 7.2 deg C while Bhuntar and Shimla recorded a low of 9.3 deg C and 9.5 deg C followed by Sundernagar 11 deg C, Nahan 12.6 deg C, Una 13.6 deg C, 3 deg C below normal and Dharamsala 18 deg C.

The maximum temperatures also dropped marginally and Una was hottest in the region with a high of 30.2 deg C while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded maximum temperature at 27.2 deg C and 27 deg C followed by Dharamsala 26.6 deg C, Nahan 25.7 deg C, Solan 25 deg C, Shimla 19.6 deg C and Kalpa 17.6 deg C.
The local MeT office has predicted dry weather in the region for next four days with marginal fluctuations in mercury.