Yellow alert for cold wave, dense fog issued

The Shimla meteorological station on Wednesday issued a yellow warning for a cold wave, ground frost and dense fog at isolated places in five of the 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh including Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi.

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The department also issued a yellow warning for these districts for Thursday with dense fog expected on Friday.

Meanwhile, Una district experienced a severe cold wave on Tuesday night, with the minimum temperature hovering around the freezing point at 1.2 degrees Celsius, while Tabo in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recorded the coldest temperature at night, dipping to minus 13.6 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave was observed in Hamirpur, Mandi and Kangra districts, dense fog was seen in Bilaspur and Mandi, while shallow fog was seen in Kangra.

There was no significant change in the maximum day temperatures and Una was hottest during the day on Wednesday recording a high of 23 degree Celsius.

A fresh Western disturbance is expected to affect Northwest India from January 11 onwards and the Met office has predicted rain and snow at a few places on Saturday and Sunday.

The weather will remain mainly dry until Friday, barring isolated places in the tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti, and Kinnaur, which may experience snowfall.

Officials also added that there is a possibility of snowfall in the mid and high hills on Saturday and Sunday.

The Met department also advised people in districts experiencing cold waves to wear lightweight warm clothes, stay hydrated, maintain ventilation while using heating appliances, protect livestock and crops from cold weather and provide winter packing to bee colonies.

The winter season rain deficit from January 1 to 8 was 87 per cent, with the state receiving only 2 mm of rain against a normal rainfall of 15 mm.

Himachal Pradesh has experienced an 18 per cent rain deficit during the monsoon and a 40 per cent deficit during the post-monsoon season.