Shimla, Manali receive first snowfall of 2020

Shimla: Shimla and Manali received the first snowfall of 2020 as the cold wave intensified across Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

Manali in Kullu district received snowfall on Saturday morning, whereas state capital Shimla witnessed snowfall in the afternoon.

The snowfall brought cheers on the faces of tourists and hoteliers alike.

Meanwhile, the meteorological department has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorm accompanied by hail and lightning at isolated places in plains, low and middle hills of the state on January 6 and 7.

The MeT department issues colour-coded warnings to alert the public ahead of severe or hazardous weather which has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption and/or danger to life".

Yellow is the least dangerous among the warnings.

A number of places of tourist attraction in the state were shivering at sub-zero temperatures, Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Light snowfall (0.2 cm) occurred in Kalpa in tribal Kinnaur district, whereas some parts of the state, including Bhuntar (7.8 mm), Seobagh (6.2 mm) and Manali (1 mm) received rain, he added.

Tourist destinations Manali, Dalhousie, Keylong and Kalpa shivered at sub-zero temperatures, he said.

Keylong recorded the lowest temperature in the state at minus 10.5 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa registered a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while Manali and Dalhousie shivered at minus 1.2 and minus 0.6 degree Celsius, respectively, Singh said.

The minimum temperature in Shimla, Solan and Dharamshala was 0.7, 2 and 2.8 degrees Celsius respectively, he said.