Tourists cheer as Manali gets snow; Keylong, Kalpa also turn white

Dipender Manta
Tribune News Service
Mandi, January 5

Snow continued to elude the Himachal Pradesh capital on Saturday, but the tourist resort of Manali had snow. The minimum temperature recorded at Manali was one degree Celsius.

The picturesque Kalpa, some 250 km from Shimla, experienced 4 cm of snow. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district saw 20 cm snow.

Keylong was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus seven degrees Celsius, while it was minus 3.2 degrees in Kalpa, 3.8 in Dharamsala, minus 1.1 degree in Dalhousie and 3.7 degrees in Shimla.

As the news of snow flashed across the plains, tourists started arriving in Manali and the nearby hills.

The weatherman said western disturbances--storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region--are likely to remain active in the region till January 9.

Under the influence of western disturbance, rain and snow will occur at most places in the state till January 6.

Thereafter, under the influence of another western disturbance from January 8, isolated to scattered precipitation would occur in the state till January 9.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kalpa and Dalhousie are likely to have light to moderate spells of snow. With IANS