Shimla has season's first snowfall

Shimla, Dec 11 (UNI) Shimla town and its adjoining areas in Himachal Pradesh received the season's first snowfall in December in nine years, while rains lashed the middle and lower areas even as dry weather prevailed in the tribal districts of the state today.

Shimla received the season's first snowfall in December, nine years after 1997, when it received about 31 cm of snow on December one, Shimla Meteorological Department Director Manmohan Sharma told UNI here.

Besides Shimla town, other tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu, Narkanda, Sarahan and Naldehra in Shimla district, Manali in Kullu district and Dalhousie and Khajjiar in Chamba district also experienced mild snowfall today.

Mr Sharma said Shimla town, which was experiencing intermittent rain and snowfall since last night, recorded a sharp fall in the night temperature, which stood at 0.7 degree Celsius as against 6.2 degrees recorded yesterday.

The town had recorded over 15 cm of snowfall, followed by 25 cm at Kufri, 30 cm at Fagu, and about 40 cm at Narkanda, besides six mm rain at Shimla and six cm snow at Kufri last night.

The sky over the state capital and other adjoining areas was clear in the morning before clouds gathered and it began snowing during the second half of the day.

The Manali-Leh road remained closed for the 15th day today following fresh spell of snow last night on the 13050-foot-high Rohtang Pass, which was under six feet of snow, the met office said.

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