Intense cold wave grips Himachal

Shimla: An intense cold wave gripped most parts of Himachal Pradesh on Monday with the weather office predicting more rain and snowfall in store. Shimla, which saw mild rain and snow, recorded a low of 1.7 degrees Celsius, while its neighbouring tourist resort Kufri, which saw 4 cm snow, recorded the night temperature at minus 2.9 degrees.

While tourist spot Narkanda saw good spells of snow, Kasauli and Chail in Solan district received rain. Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw 7 cm of snow, whereas Manali in Kullu district received 11 mm rain. However, Dalhousie in Chamba got mild snow.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) - located on the Manali-Leh highway - experienced heavy snowfall. Kalpa recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, while it was 0.8 degrees in Manali and 4.2 degrees in Dharamsala. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest in the state with a minimum of minus 8.4 degrees Celsius.

Met officials said the entire tribal belt in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Chamba districts witnessed heavy snowfall in the past for days. Widespread rainfall was also reported across the mid and lower hills. The weather forecast said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea in Central Asia and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - would be active in the region till February 21.