Hill capital Shimla received season’s first snowfall on Wednesday, December 12, with icy winds bringing down the minimum temperature further in the town that had been reeling under severe cold weather since Tuesday after a mild rain. Locals said it started snowing at 7 am.
Manali too woke up to a white blanket of snow on Wednesday, and it snowed in other tourist spots such as Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda also. The Dhauladhar ranges surrounding Dharamsala too wore a fresh blanket of snow.
The Solang ski slopes, Gulaba and the Rohtang Pass (52 km from Manali) have been experiencing snow since morning, while Kalpa in Kinnaur district and Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district saw snow on the second consecutive day.
With large parts of Himachal Pradesh, especially the higher reaches, experiencing widespread snow and rain since Monday, the minimum temperature has been staying below the freezing point.
Temperatures came down in the lower areas such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi too after being lashed by rain.
Weather officials had forecast snow and rain across the state due to an active Western Disturbance, a storm system generating in the Mediterranean that brings rain or snow in the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Rhe western disturbances are likely to start withdrawing from Thursday.
“High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts have experienced moderate to heavy snow,” a Met official told IANS.
The hotel industry is expecting an increased tourist footfall once the news of snowfall reaches the plains.