Cold wave grips HP; Lahaul Spiti dist touches –16.4 C

The administrative centre of Lahaul-Spiti district at Keylong was the coldest place in the state

Himachal Pradesh continued to shiver under sub-zero temperatures with the mercury plummeting further on Tuesday even as cold day conditions with pockets of fog prevailed in the plains of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. While it was a bright day in the Kashmir Valley, the sun appeared after the fog cleared up around noon in Jammu and the plains.

Tourists trying their hand at skiing at Kufri near Shimla on Tuesday. (Deepak Sansta/HT)

MINUS 16.4°C AT KEYLONG

In Himachal, the administrative centre of Lahaul-Spiti district at Keylong was the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of minus 16.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum was zero.

Shimla meteorological centre director Manmohan Singh said that weather will remain dry in the state till Wednesday. There is a possibility of snow and rains across the state as a fresh western disturbance becomes active on December 19.

Though the maximum temperatures in Himachal increased by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in the past 24 hours, the minimum temperatures were 4 to 5 degrees Celsius below normal.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a minimum of minus 5 degrees, while the maximum temperature was 2.3 degrees Celsius. The hill resort of Kufri recorded a low of minus 1 degree and a high of 4.9 degrees Celsius.

The state capital of Shimla recorded low of 2.5 and high of 11.2 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperatures in hill stations of Manali, Dharamshala and Dalhousie were minus 2.8, 2.6 and 3.1 degrees Celsius, respectively. The maximum temperature in the three towns was 9.2 degrees, 10.6 and 6.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.