Himachal slightly warmer, snowfall in store

Shimla, Jan 2 (IANS) Most of the hill stations of Himachal Pradesh Friday saw a further rise in temperature, but the Met Office here has forecast chances of rain and snowfall in the next two days.

"There are chances of rainfall and snowfall in the state Jan3-4," an official of the meteorological office told IANS.

He said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - would be active again in the region.

Most of the prominent tourist towns such as Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri and Manali may witness moderate snowfall, he said.

"We have extended our holidays to witness the snowfall in Shimla and its surrounding hills," Renu Duggal, a tourist from Delhi, told IANS.

She and her family came to the state capital for the New Year's bash.

Meanwhile, Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 10.1 degrees Celsius.

Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 5.2 degrees against Thursday's 3.7 degrees.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district Friday recorded a low of 0.4 degrees, while it was 4.6 degrees at Dharamsala, 5.6 degrees in Dalhousie and 1.2 degrees in Chamba.

These towns Thursday recorded the night temperature at minus 2.8 degrees, 4.4 degrees, 4.1 degrees and 1.5 degrees respectively.