Snow in higher reaches of Chamba district of HP

Shimla, Jan 20 (UNI) The higher reaches of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh experienced fresh mild intermittent snowfall last night, plummeting temperatures in the state with the minimum temperatures at Shimla tumbling to 2.4 degrees Celsius.

Killar and Saach Pass in the Pangi sub division of the district received fresh four and six inches of snowfall during the last 24 hrs, the met office said.

However, dry spell continued in the tribal districts of Kinnuar, Lahaul and Spiti and Kullu and in mid and lower hills of the state during the last 24 hrs.

The met office and official sources said no rain or snowfall has been recorded from any other part of the state.

The coldwave in the state that had eased for the last two days intensified today with the night temperatures at Shimla and Kalpa in Kinnuar district tumbling to 2.4 and minus 5.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Yesterday, Shimla and Kalpa recorded minimum temperatures of 4.5 and minus 4.1 degrees Celsius respectively, the met office said.

The minimum temperature at Bhuntar in Kullu district also plummeted to 0.6 degrees Celsius as compared to one degree Celsius recorded yesterday, while Sundernagar recorded a marginal decrease of point two degrees in the minimum temperature, which stood at 0.6 degrees.

A thin layer of clouds covered the sky over Shimla and other adjoining areas during the first half of the day before disappearing in the second half.

The maximum temperatures across the state also plummeted with Shimla recording a high of 12.4 degrees, while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded day temperatures of 21 and 20 degrees Celsius respectively.

The met office has predicted mainly dry weather in the state during the next 24 hrs.

UNI