Snow, rain dips mercury

Chandigarh, Mar 14 (UNI) Moderate to heavy snowfall lashed higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh while lower areas in the hilly state and plains of Punjab and Haryana experienced widespread rain bringing a drastic fall in the mercury.

Night temperatures further dipped, hovering three degrees to six degrees celsius below normal at many places in the region.

The weather Office has predcited light to moderate rain or snow at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and light to moderate rain or thundershowers at isolated places in Punjab and Haryana during the next 24 hours.

Tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi valley and Bharmour area in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh had another spell of snowfall plummeting the temperature in the tribal belt. The tribal areas reeled under intense cold wave conditions with the minimum temperature hovering below freezing point.

Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul spiti district, recorded 27 cm snow while Dhundi reported 59 cm, Petsio 29 cm, Kalpa 21.8 cm and Kaza 14 cm snow.

High hills in Kullu and Shimla districts also had snowfall. About 20 cm fresh snow had accumulated at Bhang-Manali and 12 cm snow at Solang Nullah, near the tourist resort of Manali in Kullu district.

The 13050-foot high Rohtang Pass, access to Lahaul Spiti district, and the Dhauladhar mountain ranges, facing the Kangra valley, also had snowfall, renewing cold conditions in the twin valleys of Kullu and Kangra.

Widespread rain lashed mid and lower hills of Himachal Pradesh and plains of Punjab and Haryana since last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperatures. Reports of rain were received from Bhuntar, Shimla, Dharamsala, Palampur, Gamroor, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Nangal Dam, Balachour, Ambala, Panchkula, Morni, Kalka, Chachroli, Jagadri and Nelokheri.

The minimum temperatures decreased in the palins following rainfall and stayed below normal by six degrees at Ludhiana, five degrees each at Chandigarh, Ambala and Shimla, four degrees each at Bhuntar and Amritsar and three degrees at Karnal.

Chandigarh and its adjoining areas were also lashed by rain overnight, dipping the minimum temperture to 9.4 degrees celsius from 13.6 degrees recorded yesterday.

UNI