Shimla/Srinagar Shimla experienced the season’s first snowfall on Wednesday with the temperature dipping to -1° celsius.Tourist spots near Shimla, including Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda, too experienced snowfall. Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, remained coldest with -6.2° C.

The capital recorded 4 inches of snowfall, whereas the snow cover at Theog was 1.5 inches, Kufri recorded 6 inches, Gondla 5 inches, Kothi 3 inches, Kalpa 2 inches, Mashobra 1 inches and Keylong experienced 1 inch of snowfall, respectively. In Kufri, National Highway 5 remained closed in the morning for a brief period.

While nearby Manali hills like Solang ski slopes, Gulaba and the Rohtang Pass (52km from Manali) have been experiencing snow, Kalpa in Kinnaur district and Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district witnessed snow on the second consecutive day.

The Dhauladhar ranges of the Himalayas surrounding Dharamshala wore a fresh blanket of snow.

“High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts have experienced moderate to heavy snow,” a Met official said

Rain lashed lower areas of the state such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi, pulling down temperatures.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of -3° C while the temperature was -3.3° C in Kufri and -0.4° C in Manali.

The temperature at some other places of Himachal was recorded at 6.8° C in Dharamshala, 6° C in Palampur, 7.6° C in Chamba and -0.7° C in Dalhousie.

Forecasts limit the snow to one day, and no further precipitation is predicted for the next one week. Met department director Manmohan Singh predicts 3 to 4° C dip in the minimum temperature.

The snowfall in the region had put the traffic to a standstill at various locations. The road to Rohru through Khadapatthar was blocked for buses, but was open for small vehicles. Chopal- Deha, Chopal-Maraog, Nerwa-Tharoch, Kupvi- Harpurdar roads were blocked due to snowfall.

In Rampur of Shimla district Nankhadi-Tutupani-Khadrara, Basabani-Khamadi roads were also blocked due to continue snowfall. HRTC buses to Rampur are being diverted through Basantpur, due to snowfall at Narkanda and Theog.

No major disruption in power supply was reported throughout the district.

Cold wave grips Kashmir

Minimum temperatures dropped sharply across the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region triggering cold wave conditions, the weather office said.

A Met department official said the minimum temperatures were likely to drop further in the coming days.

The rainfall brought down the mercury by eight degrees, with maximum temperature on Wednesday settling at 13.2 degrees and minimum at 9.1 degrees.

“The weather will start improving from late Thursday morning. There are chances of light showers across the region in the next 24 hours,” a Met official said.

The minimum temperatures in Kargil, Leh, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Srinagar on Wednesday were minus 9.3 ° C, minus 9.1, minus 8, minus 5 and 0.2 degrees, respectively.

Jammu city recorded 9.6 ° C, Katra 8.2, Batote zero, Bannihal 1.6 and Bhaderwah 0.3 as the night’s lowest temperatures.

Three injured in landslide in J&K’s Ramban

Three people were injured in two separate incidents due to landslide in Ramban district along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Wednesday.

In the first incident, two people were injured after a boulder fell on the Tavera vehicle they were travelling in. The duo was rushed to the district hospital in Ramban where their condition is stated to be stable.

Similar incident took place in Perrah village, few kilometers short of Ramban, where one person was injured after his vehicle was hit by a boulder. He was shifted to district hospital in Ramban and was later referred to Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu, for specialised treatment.

Meanwhile, heavy rains coupled with snow, forced the authorities to close the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Wednesday afternoon.

The closure of the highway left vehicles stranded on various locations on the highway including, Ramban, Ramsoo and Magarkote.

“We have suspended traffic from both Kashmir and Jammu side on the highway keeping in view the safety of the commuters”, said Ramban deputy superintendent of police (DSP)(traffic) Suresh Sharma.

First Published: Dec 13, 2018 11:11 IST