With rain and snow, winter chill is back in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: Kalpa town of Kinnaur district on Thursday recorded minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius which was 6 degrees Celsius below normal while Keylong town of Lahaul-Spiti district recorded minimum temperature of minus 0.7 degrees Celsius which was 4 degrees below normal.
Heavy snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti and upper areas of Kinnaur along with higher reaches coupled with rainfall and hailstorm in other parts has intensified cold conditions in Himachal Pradesh due to which people are feeling winter like cold in the month of April.
Kalpa that witnessed 16cm snowfall had recorded maximum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius which was around 16 degrees Celsius below normal, while Keylong that witnessed 18 cm snowfall recorded maximum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius which was around 9 degrees below normal.
Tourist town of Shimla recorded minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius which was 9 degrees Celsius below normal and maximum temperature of 15.2 degrees Celsius which was around 6 degrees Celsius below normal. It is not that only snowbound areas are witnessing minimum temperature below normal, even towns situated in lower areas were also witnessing temperature below normal.
After a long spell of drought like conditions, Himachal Pradesh is witnessing rain and snowfall for last couple of days which has brought back the winter season to the hills once again and people have been forced to take out warm clothes and room heaters. Shimla recorded 83 mm rainfall, Kothi 65 mm, Manali 61 mm, Jogindernagar 50 mm, Dalhousie 39 mm, Tinder & Baijnath 35 mm each, Tissa 34 mm, Banjar & Chhatrari 32 mm each, Seobagh 31 mm, Sundernagar 30 mm, Palampur 28 mm, Janjehli 27 mm, Khadrala 26 mm, Bharari & Jubbar Hatti 25 mm each, Bhoranj & Mandi 24 mm each, Bijahi, Bhuntar , Dharamshala & Bajura 23 mm each, Naina Devi, Narkanda & Karsog 22 mm each, Kasol 21 mm, Ghumarwin and Bilaspur 18 mm each. According to Shimla Meteorological Centre officials, winter like weather or delayed snowfall is not uncommon as such weather was witnessed in past too. In 2013-14, Kalpa had recorded snowfall 8 days while same year in April snowfall was recorded for 6 days in a month. Similarly, in 2013-14, Keylong had recorded snowfall for 15 days in March and fo0r 13 days in April.
In 2015-16, Kalpa had recorded snowfall in March for 5 days and for 2 days in April while Keylong had recorded snowfall in March for 7 days and for 3 days in April. Similarly in 2016-17, Kalpa had recorded snowfall for 9 days in March and for a day in April. While in 2019-20, Keylong had recorded snowfall in March for 9 days and for 3 days in April.
Officials said that both maximum and minimum temperature will be below normal for next few days in the state.
Bhuntar town of Kullu district recorded minimum temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius which was one degree Celsius below normal and maximum temperature of 19.8 degrees Celsius which was around 8 degrees Celsius below normal; Dharamshala recorded minimum temperature of 8.8 degrees Celsius which was 8 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 18.4 degrees Celsius which was 10 degrees below normal.
Nahan recorded minimum temperature of 17.1 degrees Celsius which was 5 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 26.7 degrees Celsius which was 6 degrees below normal; Palampur recorded minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius which was 6 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 18 degrees Celsius which was 9 degrees below normal; Solan recorded minimum temperature of 11.5 degrees Celsius which was 2 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 24 degrees Celsius which was 6 degrees below normal.
Manali recorded minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius which was 3 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 11.6 degrees Celsius which was 11 degrees below normal; Mandi recorded minimum temperature of 12 degrees Celsius which was 2 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius which was 11 degrees below normal; Chamba recorded minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius which was 5 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 16.8 degrees Celsius which was 17 degrees below normal; Dalhousie recorded minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius which was 4 degrees below normal and maximum temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius which was 13 6 degrees below normal.