Intense cold wave sweeps Himachal
SHIMLA/DHARAMSHALA: AN intense cold wave swept across Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, a day after the hill state witnessed heavy snowfall.
While the Shimla meteorological centre has predicted more rain and snow till January 8, an orange warning has been issued for Monday.
“Heavy rainfall and snowfall is likely to take place in Kullu, Lahaul-spiti, Chamba, Shimla, Kangra and Kinnaur on January 6 and 7,” said Manmohan Singh, director of the Shimla meteorological centre. He said the weather will remain dry after January 9 and the minimum temperatures will dip further.
A yellow warning has been issued for January 7 and 8.
The weatherman also predicted thunderstorms accompanied with hail in isolated places in the lower and middle hills of the state.
“Traffic maybe disrupted in some places and landslides are also expected to occur at isolated places,” Singh said.
Following the heavy snowfall on Saturday, four national highways and 53 roads were blocked in the state. At least 38 roads were closed to traffic in Chamba, seven in Shimla, three in Kangra and two in Mandi, officials said.
Rohtang Pass received 30cm of snow on Saturday, Jalori and
Marhi in Kullu district experienced 20cm and 15cm of snow, respectively, Shimla recorded 6.4cm of snow and Kufri received 10cm of snow.
It also rained in the lower hills of the state on Saturday. Sundernagar in Mandi and Palampur received 10.8 mm and 8.2mm of rain, respectively.
Heavy snowfall also disrupted normal life and affected transportation in Bharmour and tribal areas of Pangi. The freezing of water sources also resulted in scarcity of water in tribal areas.
Kelyong, the administrative centre of Lahaul-spiti, continues to be coldest place in the state with a night temperature of -11.6°C and maximum temperature of -6.3°C. Una was the hottest place in the state as it recorded a maximum temperature of 18.4°C.
The minimum temperature in Kalpa was -7.5°C on Sunday, four degrees below Saturday’s -3°C. The tourist town of Manali recorded a minimum temperature of -5°C while Shimla shivered at -0.7°C.
Kufri recorded a minimum temperature of -5°C, Dalhousie -1°C, Sundernagar -0.8°C, Solan -0.5°C; Palampur 1°C; and Dharamshala 2.2°C.
Light snowfall and rainfall occurred at isolated places throughout the state during the last 24 hours. Cold wave continued in the state as minimum temperatures fell two to three degrees below normal and maximum temperatures fell three to four degrees below normal. At least seven towns of the state, including Solan and Sundernagar, recorded sub-zero temperatures.
In Jammu and Kashmir, overcast conditions brightened the prospects of fresh snowfall.
“Light to moderate snowfall is expected in most parts of Kashmir over the next 48 hours,” a Met department official said.
He said overcast skies have resulted in warmer than expected night temperature with Srinagar recording a low of minus 1 degrees Celsius last night.
The official said the ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the low of minus 10.5 degrees Celsius last night – four degrees down from Saturday.
The night temperature at Pahalgam resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, intense cold wave conditions persisted in Punjab and Haryana.
Karnal was the coldest place in Haryana with a low of 1.8 degrees Celsius, five notches below the normal, a Met department official said.