Cold wave grips Himachal Pradesh after fresh snowfall

Cold wave conditions intensified across Himachal Pradesh on Sunday with the capital city and many areas of upper and lower hills in the state receiving fresh bouts of snow, the Meteorological Department said. The plains and low hills of the state experienced rainfall, it added. The snowfall and rainfall in the state has further intensified the ongoing cold wave and plummeting the temperature, Director, Met Centre Shimla, Manmohan Singh.

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He said tourist places like Kufri, Dalhousie and Manali, which also witnessed snowfall, are shivering at sub-zero temperatures.

Shimla has received 3.5 cm snowfall so far bringing down the minimum temperature to 0.2 degree Celsius, he added.

Dalhousie in Chamba district got 30 cm snowfall, Manali in Kullu district 23 cm and Kufri in Shimla district 8 cm snowfall, Singh said, adding that Chail and Saluni witnessed 2.5 cm snowfall each.

Tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong got 9 cm snowfall whereas another tribal district Kinnaur's Kalpa received 8 cm snowfall, he said.

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Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 11 degrees Celsius, whereas the minimum temperature in Kalpa was minus 4.8 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

The minimum temperature in Kufri was minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie minus 1.7 degrees Celsius and it was minus 1.6 degrees Celsius in Manali, he added.