Himachal Pradesh Wakes Up To A Blanket Of Snow As Winter Rain Freezes Higher Regions
Locals of Himachal Pradesh woke up this morning to a blanket of snow covering the cold, tribal desert districts of Lahaul and Spiti, which received fresh snowfall on Friday. High altitude areas of Dhauladhar range received fresh snowfall too.
The day temperature in the state was recorded 4 to 5 degrees below normal. Lahaul-Spiti district was covered with a thin layer of snow.
Cold wave grips Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh has been in the grip of cold wave with severe winter falling in many parts of the state.?The high-altitude tribal areas and other higher reaches have been reeling under piercing cold, with mercury staying four to seven degree below the freezing point.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of -4ˇăC and -0.7ˇăC, respectively, while Manali shivered at 1.6ˇăC and Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded a low of 3ˇăC.The mercury stayed at 4.5ˇăC in Solan and Kufri, followed by Palampur at 6.2ˇăC and Shimla 6.5ˇăC.?
Thick ground frost was seen at many places, causing worry to farmers as extreme cold conditions are not conducive for peas and other kharif crops already sown in most parts of the state.
Winter rainfall lashes many regions
There has been sufficient rainfall during the post-monsoon season, from October 1 to November 28, as the state received 58 mm average rain, an excess of 24 per cent.All districts, except Mandi which received 36 per cent deficit rain, recorded excess rain and Una and Kinnaur were the wettest with 131 per cent and 95 per cent excess rain.
The local MeT office has predicted rain and snow at isolated places in middle hills and rain and snow at many places in higher hills on December 1 and 2.
Roads blocked in Spiti valley
Meanwhile, this is the beginning of the long drawn winters in the valley when Spiti will remain under the snow for the next five months. The tribals in this district are traditionally accustomed to this life.
ˇ°It snowed a lot last night and early morning. There is at least six to seven inches of snow in the lower areas while higher mountains have nearly a foot of snowˇ± said Chhering Sakya, an owner of a local homestay at Kaza.
Most roads are blocked due to snow and water pipelines are frozen. The people use traditional water sources to draw water by removing snow from the surface.
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