No respite from biting cold wave for Himachal

The hills and valleys of Himachal today shivered under biting cold conditions as night temperatures dropped and the sky remained partially overcast.
High velocity winds swept the region and the high- altitude tribal areas saw mild snowfall.
Heavy snow cut off Rohtang Pass, Dhundi, Patiseo, Mari Koksar and Keylong from the rest of the state.
The high-altitude areas saw temperatures between minus 10 and minus 15 degrees Celsius while Keylong, Kalpa and Manali recorded minimum temperatures at minus 7 degrees Celsius, minus 2.8 degrees Celsius and zero degrees Celsius respectively.
Mercury hovered around freezing point at many places. Dalhousie, Solan, Palampur and Shimla shivered at 1.4 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees Celsius, 4.2 degrees Celsius and 4.4 degrees Celsius respectively.

The mercury stayed below normal at most places and Sundernagar recorded a minimum temperature of 5.0 degrees Celsius, followed by Dharamsala and Bhuntar (5.4 degrees Celsius), Una (7.3 degrees Celsius) and Nahan 7.5 (degrees Celsius).

The local MeT office has warned of intense cold wave conditions in the lower hills over the next three days and dry weather in the region till December 21.
The cold spell hit hydropower generation as natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets and tributaries of snow-fed rivers were frozen.
The day temperatures remained moderate and Una was the hottest in the region with a high of 19.2 degrees Celsius while Bhuntar, Solan and Nahan recorded a high of 19.0 degrees Celsius, 18.4 degrees Celsius and 18.0 degrees Celsius respectively, followed by Sundernagar (17.5 degrees Celsius), Manali (17.1 degrees Celsius), Dharamshala (15.2 degrees Celsius), Shimla (13.9 degrees Celsius) and Kalpa (6.0 degrees Celsius).