Snow paints Shimla white ahead of Christmas

SHIMLA: A fresh spell of snow in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including in Shimla, Sirmaur, Kullu, Kinnaur, and Lahaul-Spiti, ahead of Christmas has brought a ray of hope for the tourism sector as well as the farmers and horticulturists of the state.

After getting its first snowfall of the season on Dec 8, the capital city of Shimla received mild snowfall on Monday.

Tourists have already started arriving in Shimla and nearby areas, including Kufri, Fagu, and Narkanda, to enjoy the snowfall ahead of Christmas.

Shimla received 8 cm of snow, while Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded 7 cm of snow by Monday evening. The lower regions of the state received light rainfall, bringing down the temperature. Nahan in Sirmaur district received 4.4 mm of rainfall, Jubberhati in Shimla district (4 mm), Bilaspur (2 mm), and Una got 1 mm rain on Monday.

Traffic on 112 roads in Shimla district was affected due to snowfall on Monday, said deputy commissioner Anupam Kashyap, adding that efforts were on to open these roads. He, however, said the traffic on Shimla-Chandigarh and Shimla-Bilaspur-Dharamshala highways continued to be normal.

Tabo recorded the lowest minimum temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius on Monday. Shimla recorded a minimum of 6 degrees Celsius – a fall of 7 degrees from the normal temperature. The city has registered an overall dip of 11.3 degrees in the night temperature in the last 24 hours.

The lower areas of Himachal Pradesh, including Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, and Bilaspur, also continue to brave the cold. Shallow fog was also observed in the Mandi and Sundernagar areas.

The meteorological department has predicted a few spells of light rain during the next 12 hours at a few places over Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Solan, Shimla, and Sirmaur districts, and at isolated places over Kangra and Mandi districts.

There is a prediction of cold wave to severe cold wave conditions over some parts of Una, Bilaspur, Mandi, and Hamirpur districts, and in isolated pockets of Kangra and Chamba districts.