Snowfall, rain in Himachal Pradesh, cold wave intensifies

The cold wave conditions intensified across Himachal Pradesh on Monday with fresh snowfall in the higher reaches and rains in lower hills, the MeT department said.

The maximum temperature has fallen in most parts of the state and more rain and snowfall are predicted this week, Director Shimla MeT centre Manmohan Singh said.

Heavy rain and snowfall are likely in Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kangra, Lahaul and Spiti district in the next three days.

On Monday, the tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong received 18 cm of snow, Dalhousie got 10 cm of snow followed by 6.4 cm of snow at Kalpa, 4 cm in Pooh and Sangla each and one cm of snow was registered at Kufri, he said.

There was mild snowfall in Shimla, Nahan and Mandi.

Besides, 0.6 to 6 mm of rain was received in Sundernagar, Bhuntar, Dharamshala, Nahan, Palampur, Solan, Manali, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Chamba, Amb and Tissa on Monday, Singh said.

The maximum temperature has declined because of the fresh snowfall and rain in the state, he said, adding, the Keylong centre recorded zero degrees Celsius on Monday.

While Kalpa settled at 4.2 degrees Celsius, the temperature was 6.1 degrees Celsius in Kufri, 6.2 degrees Celsius in Dalhousie, 8.2 degrees Celsius in Manali and 12.1 degrees Celsius in the state capital Shimla, he said.

The MeT department had already issued warning for heavy snowfall and rain at isolated places in the state on January 21 and 22, Singh said.