The entire higher altitude belt of Himachal Pradesh was lashed by a moderate snowfall and the low-lying areas had a good spell of rain on Friday. The tourist resorts of Narkanda, Fagu, Kufri and Mount Jakhu near Shimla town recorded a moderate spell of snow in the afternoon. The higher reaches of Kullu-Manali and Dhauladhar peaks also experienced a moderate snowfall on Friday.
The day’s temperature in the State declined by a few notches and is likely to continue for two more days, Met department officials said. The vehicular traffic remained unaffected on the Hindustan-Tibet NH 22 and Chandigarh-Manali NH 21 despite intermittent rain. Helicopter services were however affected and even the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had to cancel his official visit to Manali due to inclement weather on Friday.
The Met office has forecast more rain and snowfall in the next two days. “Heavy rainfall and snowfall may occur at isolated places in Shimla, Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur districts and parts of Kullu and Chamba districts,” said a Met office statement.
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Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district were the coldest places in the State with a low of minus 10.1 degrees Celsius. Shimla recorded the minimum temperature of 5.2 degrees Celsius, whereas the maximum temperature was 10.8 degrees Celsius. Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of 0.4 degrees while it was 4.6 degrees in Dharamsala, 5.6 degrees in Dalhousie and 1.2 degrees in Chamba.
PTI adds from New Delhi: Mild rain in vast swathes of north India on Friday brought down day temperatures substantially while a fresh bout of snowfall occurred in hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, further intensifying the cold wave conditions.
The higher reaches of Uttarakhand received snowfall while the plains were lashed by rain, with the sudden change in weather leading to a drop in temperature making people shiver.
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Mountainous areas of both Garhwal and Kumaon regions including Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Auli, Munsyari and Dharchula have been receiving snowfall since morning whereas plains including Dehradun, Nainital, Almora, Chamoli and Haldwani are being lashed by showers.
In Rajasthan, day temperatures dipped by six to seven degrees Celsius in many places after rain. Day temperatures at many places settled between 14 and 16 degrees Celsius.
Minimum temperatures, however, recorded marginal rise with Sriganganagar being the coldest recorded place at 7.5 degrees. Churu, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jaipur and Ajmer also recorded above normal night temperatures at 9.2, 9.8, 8.6, 11.4 and 11.8 deg Celsius, respectively.
In view of the prevailing cold conditions, the State government has authorised district collectors to announce or extend holidays in schools.