Shimla :
Himachal Pradesh received fresh snowfall on Thursday with tourist hotspots Shimla, Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie draping in white even as the cold wave intensified across the state Capital city Shimla received 50 cm snowfall from Thursday morning till 5.30 pm, which is the second highest snowfall in a day in the last 30 years, Shimla Met centre director Manmohan Singh said.
The city had received 54.1 cm snowfall in a day on February 12, 2002, he added.
Snowfall occurred at many places over the state in the last 24 hours but its main effect was in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts, Singh said.
Most parts of Shimla district, including Shimla city, Kharapathar, Narkanda, Kufri and its upper parts, several places in Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur, Chamba and Kangra districts and most places in Lahul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts received light to heavy snowfall on Thursday, he added.
The temperature in the state decreased by several notches while a number of roads were blocked due to snow, officials said.
The tribal Lahaul and Spiti’s administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 6.3 degrees Celsius, Singh said.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, he added.
The minimum temperature in Kufri and Dalhousie settled at minus 1.1 and minus 1.2 degrees Celsius respectively. Shimla and Manali registered a low of 1.8 and degrees Celsius respectively, Singh said.
The maximum temperature in the state decreased by six to seven degrees Celsius in the past 24 hours. The highest temperature was recorded in Una at 18.4 degrees Celsius, he said.
Dalhousie’s maximum was recorded at 8.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Shimla 3.2, Manali 3, Kufri 0.7, Kalpa 0.4 and Keylong minus 4 degrees Celsius, he added.
The highest 151.3 cm snowfall in the state in the month of February in the past thirty years had occurred in 1990 and the second highest 113 cm was in 2007, Singh said.
Bypass road near ISBT in Shimla was closed due to uprooting of trees, a police official said.
Several upper roads in Shimla district, including Dhalli-Fagu road on the National Highway-5, were closed for traffic, he said.
The Shimla meteorological centre has forecast rain, snowfall in mid and high hills of the state on February 5 as well.
