High altitude and tribal areas of Himachal on Saturday experienced mild to moderate snowfall while areas downstream were lashed by intermittent rains. The Western disturbances had been active over the hill State from the past two days, said the Met Department.
The extensive Dhauladhar ranges in Kangra, Choordhar ranges in Sirmaur, Rohtang Pass, Manimahesh ranges, Goshal hills and other high altitude areas received mild snowfall, accompanied by strong velocity icy winds while mid and lower hills, including Shimla, received light rains. The entire tribal belt, comprising Keylong, Udaipur and Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Pangi and Bharmaur Chamba districts also received sporadic snowfall.
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti and Rohtang Pass recorded five cm and 10 cm of fresh snow while Dharamsala had 3 mm of rains. Keylong was the coldest, with a minimum temperature of minus 7.1 degree while the night temperature improved to stay at minus 0.6 degrees. The sky remained heavily overcast but the minimum temperature increased by 4 degrees to stay at 8.4 degree at Shimla, 6.4 degree above normal, while Dharamsala, Una and Solan recorded a low of 9.4 degree, 7.0 degree and 6.0 degree respectively.
After a long dry spell, chances of snowfall in major tourist resorts such as Manali, Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Dalhousie and Chail have increased and tourists have started pouring in.
The towns of Manali and Mandi shivered under the biting cold wave on Saturday, with minimum temperatures at 1.0 degree and 1.6 degree celsius.
