Tourists warned of heavy snowfall in Himachal

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"The western disturbances are approaching the region Saturday and they will remain active in Himachal Pradesh till Feb 9. Under the influence of the western disturbances, rainfall and snowfall will start Saturday at a few places," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological Office here, told IANS Thursday.

He said the western disturbances would result in heavy snowfall in the high hills of Shimla, Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Kullu districts.

The Met Office has advised tourists not to travel in high-altitude and remote areas Feb 7-9.

All the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh, except Lahaul and Spiti, have received less than average precipitation so far.

"After a virtually dry December, the state received inadequate rain and snow in January which is not enough to ensure a good rabi crop. During last month, the overall precipitation in the state was 84 percent less than the long-term normal values of rainfall," Singh said.

Meanwhile, cold wave has affected normal life in the state as high-altitude areas remained below sub-zero temperature.

Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, was the coldest in the state at minus 11.9 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.

The minimum at Kalpa was minus 5.6 degrees, whereas the maximum was 11.4 degrees Celsius.

While the minimum temperature in the capital town of Shimla plummeted to 3.5 degrees, it was 1 degrees at Bhuntar in Kullu district and 4.5 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.

However, Shimla and Bhuntar saw a high of 13.6 degrees and 20.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.