Kalpa, Keylong witness fresh spell of snowfall

Tribune News Service

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Shimla, January 7

The cold wave sweeping most parts of Himachal intensified today and minimum temperatures plunged following snowfall and rain for the past five days. The MeT office has predicted a dry weather in the region over the next six days till January 13.

High-altitude tribal areas received another spell of moderate snowfall while mid and lower hills received scattered rain. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti, which received 15 cm of snow, was the coldest in the region with a minimum temperature of -11.5°C.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded 6 cm of snowfall while Pooh and Kothi received 5 cm of snow. Intermittent rain was witnessed at many places in the state and Reckong Peo was the wettest with 23 mm of rain, followed by Nadaun 13 mm, Dalhousie and Dharamsala 12 mm, Mehre 10 mm, Manali 9 mm, Chamba and Sujanpur Tira 8 mm and Rampur and Una 7 mm.

Dense fog prevailed at several places in the lower hills in the morning hours while water froze in supply pipes that burst at many places in the upper Shimla region. All natural water resources such as lakes, springs and rivulets were frozen in high-altitude areas, drastically reducing the discharge of water in the snow-fed Sutlej, Beas and Rabi and affecting hydropower generation.

Meanwhile, apple growers and farmers are happy as snow is considered white manure for the fruit crop and rain has provided much-needed moisture for the crops.

The high-altitude tribal areas reeled under biting cold wave conditions as the mercury stayed 12 to 18 degrees below the freezing point. Kalpa recorded a low of -5°C, followed by Manali -1.2°C, Bhuntar 1.9°C, Solan 2.2°C, Palampur 3.2°C, Kufri 3.3°C, Shimla 3.9°C, Dharamsala 4.6°C, Una 6.6°C and Nahan 10.9°C.

The maximum temperatures rose by three to four degrees and Bilaspur and Hamirpur recorded high temperatures of 22.5°C and 22.3°C, followed by Una 21.6°C, Solan 21°C, Palampur 15.8°C, Shimla 15.6°C, Dharamsala 14.8°C, Manali 9.8°C, Kalpa 1.3°C and Keylong -3°C.