Snowfall, rain in higher reaches of Himachal

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 29

Cold wave conditions continued unabated in the state as higher reaches and tribal areas received another spell of snowfall today. Higher reaches of Shimla and adjoining area of Kufri also received snow followed by rain while Keylong and Solang received 3 cm of snowfall.

Vehicular traffic was disrupted at many places on the Shimla–Rampur highway. Kausali and its adjoining areas and lower areas of Shimla and Solan districts were lashed with hailstorm while mid and low parts of the state received moderate intermittent rain accompanied by a thunderstorm.

The snow-clearing operation on the Manali-Leh road was hit due to fresh snowfall. A thick fog engulfed state capital Shimla and its adjoining areas, making vehicular movement tough.

Dharamsala was the wettest place with 22 mm of rain, followed by Shimla 15 mm, Kasauli and Kangra 13 mm each, Amb 10 mm, Solan 9 mm, Dehra Gopipur 8 mm, Manali and Una 7 mm each, Mehre and Hamirpur 6 mm each, Nadaun and Mashobra 5 mm each, Dharampur, Rampur, Ghamroor and Theog 4 mm each, Dalhousie, Aghar, Rajgarh and Kaho 3 mm each, and Bijahi, Jatton barrage, Naina Devi, Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Bharwain 2 mm each. There was no significant change in the minimum temperatures and Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest at night with minus 2.8 degrees, followed by Kalpa at 1.2 degrees while the key tourist resorts of Kufri, Dalhousie, Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala recorded minimum temperatures of 2.1 degrees, 3.1 degrees, 3.6 degrees, 6 degrees and 7.6 degrees, respectively. The maximum temperatures decreased by 3 to 4 degrees and Nahan with 21.9 degrees was the hottest during the day. The local MeT office has predicted a wet spell in the region till Match 6, barring March 3. A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of March 3 and plains of northwest India from March 4.