Rains, snow cause sharp fall in mercury in Himachal

Shimla, Feb 8 (PTI) Minimum temperatures today plummetedacross Himachal Pradesh after the tribal areas received freshsnowfall and thunderstorms lashed mid and lower hills in thestate.

Keylong and Kalpa in tribal districts of Lahaul and Spitiand Kinnaur recorded 65 cm and 50 cm of snowfall respectively,aggravating the avalanche threat.

All schools in the tribal valleys of Lahaul and Pangiwere closed to avoid avalanche risk and the Valleys remainedwithout electricity for more than 24 hours.

Kalpa recorded a minimum temperature of minus 6 deg Cwhile Keylong was colder with a low of minus 8.6 deg C.

The picturesque Sangla Valley in Kinnaur recorded 16 cmof fresh snowfall while Solang Nallah, Marhi and Koksar inKullu and Lahaul recorded 30 to 40 cm of snow.

The minimum temperatures dipped to 2.1 deg C, 2.9 deg C,3 deg C and 3.1 deg C at Dharamsala, Shimla, Solan andSundernagar after heavy rains and sleet.

Dharamsala received 37.6 mm of rains while Bhuntar andSundernagar had 19.7 mm of rains each.

Salooni was wettest in the region with 56 mm of rains,followed by Tissa 53 mm, Karsog 40 mm, Dharamsala 37.6 mm,Manali 36 mm, Nurpur 33 mm, Jhandutta 23 mm, Joginder Nagar 20mm, Sundernagar and Bhuntar 19.7 mm each, Bharwain and Bangana19 mm each, Una 18.6 mm and Baldwara 18 mm.

Shimla, which was hit by severe thunderstorm accompaniedby rains and sleet, recorded 10.4 mm of rains.

The maximum temperatures also registered moderatedecrease with Shimla recording a high of 13.9 deg C andDharamsala experiencing 20.4 deg C.

Una was the hottest with maximum temperature at 25.2 degC, followed by Sundernagar 21.2 deg C, Nahan 20.3 deg C, Solan19.2 deg C and Bhuntar 19.1 deg C.

The local MeT office has predicted dry weather in mid andlower hills but rains or snow at isolated places in higherhills and tribal belt during the next 48 hours.