Piercing cold conditions persist in most parts of Himachal

Residents of the hills and valleys of Himachal saw no relief from the biting cold as minimum temperatures hovered around the freezing point and remained below 4.0 degrees Celsius, one to four degrees below normal.
Water pipes froze and burst at many places in the mid and higher hills, while thick fog engulfed the lower hills reducing visibility and hampering vehicular traffic.
The high altitude tribal areas reeled under biting cold wave conditions with the mercury staying between minus 14 and minus 21 degrees Celsius, while Keylong recorded a low of minus 8.0 degrees Celsius, followed by Kalpa at minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, Manali at minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, Sundernagar at minus 0.7 degrees Celsius and Bhuntar at 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Solan and Palampur shivered at 1.7 degrees Celsius and 2.0 degrees Celsius, respectively, followed by Shimla at 2.5 degrees Celsius, Nahan at 3.5 degrees Celsius, and Una and Dharamsala at 4.0 degrees Celsius.
The maximum day temperatures stayed below normal in spite of a sunny day and Keylong was coldest during the day with a high of 3.3 degrees Celsius, while Dalhousie and Kalpa recordedmaximum temperatures of 6.9 degrees Celsius and 8.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali at 11.8 degrees Celsius, Shimla at 12.4 degrees Celsius, Nahan at 14.5 degrees Celsius, Dharamshala at 14.8 degrees Celsius, Palampur at 15.0 degrees Celsius, Solan at 18.0 degrees Celsius, Una at 19.7 degrees Celsius and Bhuntar at 20.7 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT office has predicted rains or snow at isolated places in the higher hills from January 29 to 31, and dry weather in lower and mid hills over the next six days.