Minimum temperature plummets across Himachal; Kukumseri records minus 7.2 degree Celsius

Shimla, January 14

A day after staying 3 to 10 degrees Celsius above normal, the minimum temperatures across Himachal Pradesh plummeted by three to five notches on Sunday.

The weather remained dry in the state and the local Meteorological station has predicted light rain/snow at isolated places in higher hills on January 16 and 17 as a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from Tuesday.

For the next two days, the MeT office has warned of dense fog to occur in isolated pockets of Mandi, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Kangra (Nurpur), Sirmaur (Paonta Sahib & Dhaula Kuan) and Solan (Baddi and Nalagarh) districts in the morning resulting in poor visibility and disruption of vehicular traffic.

The minimum temperatures which had surged across the state on Saturday and stayed 3 to 10 degrees Celsius above normal dropped by three to five notches on Sunday.

The minimum temperature of Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti district which rose to 0.9 degree Celsius on Saturday, 10.3 degrees Celsius above normal for this time of the year, dropped to minus 7.2 degrees Celsius — a variation of 6.3 degrees Celsius.

Dharamsala and Shimla, which had recorded minimum temperatures at 9.2 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius on Saturday, recorded a low of 7.5 degrees Celsius and 6.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district, which recorded a minimum temperature of 0.2 degree Celsius, had a cooler night on Sunday with a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.

Chamba was hottest in the state with a high of 22.3 degrees Celsius, while Shimla and Dharamsala recorded maximum temperatures at 17 and 20.5 degrees Celsius — 6.1 and 4.9 degrees Celsius above normal — respectively.