The biting cold wave sweeping most parts of Himachal further aggravated today as the mercury dropped sharply and hovered around the freezing point while Keylong in tribal Lahaul valley experienced the coldest day of the season with the mercury staying at minus 14.7 degree.
The region had a dry day but icy winds swept the mid and higher hills. The MeT office has predicted rain or snow in mid and higher hills on December 31 and January 1, raising hopes of “White New Year”.
Thick fog disrupted normal life and vehicular traffic at many places as visibility was reduced to a few metres in the morning hours while ground frost caused freezing and bursting of water pipes. The MeT office has also warned of dense fog and cold wave conditions in lower hills tomorrow.
Kalpa and Manali recorded the minimum temperatures at minus 4.3 degree and minus 3 degree while Seobag, Kufri, Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Solan groaned under piercing cold wave with the mercury dipping to minus 1.5 degree, minus 1.2 degree, minus 0.6 degree, minus 0.5 degree and minus 0.4 degree, three to seven degree below normal.
The minimum temperatures stayed 15 to 22 degree below freezing point in the high-altitude tribal areas while Chamba recoded a low of 0.9 degree, followed by Shimla and Palampur 1 degree each, Dalhousie 1.7 degree, Dharamsala 3.2 degree and Una 4.7 degree.