By IANS,
Shimla : Heavy snowfall in the higher reaches and intermittent rain accompanied by hail storms in low and mid hills of Himachal Pradesh continued for the fourth day Tuesday, forcing authorities to close schools located in those areas.
“High-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kinnaur and Shimla districts again experienced heavy snow during the past 24 hours,” a spokesperson for the meteorological office said.
Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, experienced about 45 inches of snow, while it was 57 inches in Udaipur and 24 inches in Kaza.
The picturesque tourist resort of Manali has had snowfall since Sunday night. The road link to the town, which snapped Monday night due to massive landslides, was restored Tuesday evening.
However, snowfall has continued to elude the state capital so far. The weatherman said snow may fall by night here.
There has been no snowfall in Shimla for 26 days now. The season’s only snowfall here so far, a mild one, was on Jan 13.
However, tourist spots Kufri near here and Narkanda, 65 km from Shimla, have also experienced good spells of snow.
“Shimla is yet to experience any fresh spell of snow. But the city saw moderate rain during the past 24 hours,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, said.
“Now (after the rain), the temperature has come down massively. There are chances of snowfall anytime this (Tuesday) late evening,” he said.
Shimla recorded a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius Tuesday, whereas the day temperature was 6.6 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, in view of continued chilly conditions, the government announced closure of schools and granted voluntary leave to government employees living in remote areas, an official said.