Min temperature above normal in Pb, Hry while cold wave in Himachal

A day after rains and hailstorm in some parts of the region, the minimum temperatures soared several notches above normal in Punjab and Haryana.

An official of the Met office said Chandigarh, the common capital of the two States, was lashed by heavy rain and hailstorm on Saturday, recorded a low of 14.3 degrees Celsius.

Rains also lashed many places in the two States, including Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali, Gurdaspur, Halwara, Pathankot, Ambala, Panchkula and Yamunanagar.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a low of 10.4 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana's minimum temperature settled at 12.4 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperatures at Patiala, Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara, Bathinda and Gurdaspur settled at 15 degrees Celsius, 12.4 degrees Celsius, 10.5 degrees Celsius, 11.2 degrees Celsius, 12 degrees Celsius and 11.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a minimum temperature of 15.3 degrees Celsius while Hisar and Karnal recorded identical lows at 13.2 degrees Celsius each.

The minimum temperatures at Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa settled at 16 degrees Celsius, 13.8 degrees Celsius, 13.8 degrees Celsius and 12.3 degrees Celsius respectively.

Meanwhile, the continuing cold tightened its grip over Himachal Pradesh on Sunday as the higher reaches of the state received a fresh spell of snow. However, there was widespread rainfall in the low and mid hills, the weather office said.

The weather office here has forecast more snow and rain in the state till Monday.

Shimla, which was received 15.8 mm rain, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, a fall by four degrees Celsius from Saturday.

High hills in Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu, Shimla, Sirmaur, Mandi and Chamba districts have been experiencing light to moderate snowfall since Friday. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest in the state where the mercury plummeted to three degrees Celsius below the freezing point.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which recorded 19 cm of snow, saw a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius, while it was 1 degree Celsius in Manali, 2.2 degrees in Kufri, 4.3 degrees in Dalhousie and 8.6 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala. Manali received 49.6 mm rain, while Salooni in Chamba district recorded 54 mm rain, the highest in the state.

However, hills overlooking Manali experienced moderate snowfall.