Snow in higher reaches, rain elsewhere
Tribune Reporters

Shimla, February 7
Normal life in most parts of the state remained affected as snow and
rain accompanied with high velocity winds continued to lash the
region for the third consecutive day today. According to the local
Met office, the influence of the western disturbance will continue
for another 24 hours and the weather will clear up only by tomorrow
evening.

While the higher reaches had moderate to heavy snow, the lower hills
had widespread rain. Dhundi recorded 60 cm snowfall, followed by
Solang Nullah (35 cm), Narkanda (30 cm), Kufri (25 cm) and
Kharapathar (30 cm).

The tribal belt is also having intermittent snow since last evening.
Over the past 24 hours, Kalpa recorded 11 cm of snowfall while it was
8 cm at Keylong.

The upper Shimla areas remained cut off as continuous snowfall
hampered road-clearing operations. The Rampur and Kinnaur-bound
traffic was plying via Basantpur and Dhami.

The city and surrounding areas had intermittent snow and rain. Mount
Jakhu recorded 20 cm of fresh snowfall. The mid-elevation areas had 5
to 15 cm of snowfall. The lower areas were lashed by sleet and rain.
Manali (Bahang) had 12 cm of snowfall.

Keylong was the coldest with a minimum temperature of -7.1°C,
followed by Kalpa (-4.5°C).

Shimla and Manali also reeled under arctic conditions with mercury
hovering around the freezing point. Dharamsala, Sundernagar, Bhuntar,
Solan, Jubbal Kotkhai, Solan, Nahan and Una recorded light to
moderate rain which is considered beneficial for the rabi crop.

KANGRA: The Kangra valley continued to shiver for the third
consecutive day on Thursday. The entire valley received showers and
the Dhauladhars had heavy snowfall leading to considerable fall in
temperature.

There was continual rain during the night and the morning was also
cloudy. Mild snowfall was witnessed in the Naddi area of Dharamsala
in the morning. Life was thrown out of gear as chilly winds throttled
the normal activities. Schoolchildren were the worst affected.

There were also reports of rain from Palampur, Mallan, Jawalamukhi,
Shahpur, Nagrota Bagwan, Dehra, Gaggal, Dharamsala and Gaggal. Bara
Bhangal and Billing also witnessed snowfall. The minimum temperature
at Kangra was 2°C.