Cold tightens grip as rains, snowfall lash HP

Cold tightened its grip over entire Himachal Pradesh on Monday as a fresh spell of snowfall, coupled with rains in the middle and lower reaches, sent shivers across the state.

Icy winds swept across the entire region as incessant snowfall since last evening affected normal life at various places.

The sprawling Dhauladhar and Churdhar ranges in Kangra, along with Sirmaur, Rohtang, Kunzam, Saach and Chansel passes are covered under 75 to 100 centimetres of snow, Met officials said.

While Keylong and Kalpa recorded 35 to 40 centimetres of snowfall till this afternoon, Udaipur, Sangla, Chitkul, Saach and Darcha recorded 65, 45, 50, 55 and 60 centimetres of snow, the Met officials said.

Manali recorded 45 cm of snow till this afternoon while Narkanda and Kufri, Dalhousie and Dharamkot (Kangra) had 40 centimetres, 30, 20 and 35 centimetres of snowfall respectively.

Intermittent rains and sleet brought the mercury down in capital Shimla, which received 107 millimetres of rainfall, they said.

Seobagh received 65 millimetres rains, followed by Salooni 64 millimetres, Dharmshala 58 millimetres and Jogindernagar, Palampur and Bhuntar 42 millimetres each, they said.

Gaggal received 35 millimetres of rainfall, Dehra Gopipur 30 millimetres, Nurpur, Gohar, Nagrota Suriyan and Baijnath 25 millimetres each, Nadaun 28 millimetres, Ghamroor 25 millimetres and, Amb, Rampur and Guler 25 millimetres each.

The Met office forecasts more rain and snowfall for the next 48 hours.

The minimum temperature, however, rose in Keylong from minus 5 degrees to minus 2.7 degrees Celsius, but it remained below freezing point.

Manali recorded a minimum of minus 1.5 degrees, Shimla and Bhuntar 3.6 degrees each, Dharamsala 5.2 degrees and Palampur 6.2 degree Celsius.