Sunny Wednesday in Himachal after days of snow

Shimla, Feb 4 (IANS) Two days after moderate to heavy snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, it was a bright sunny Wednesday.

"It is bright and sunny after two days of widespread snow and rain in the state," an official of Met department told IANS here.

The minimum temperature was 2.3 degrees Celsius in Shimla, which saw mild snow Tuesday.

Shimla's nearby destinations like Kufri and Narkanda experienced moderate to heavy snowfall in the past two days.

Snow could be seen in certain areas of Shimla like Mall Road, the Ridge, the US Club and Jakhu hills.

Kalpa, around 250 km from here, was the coldest place in the state at minus 11 degrees Celsius. It received 12 cm snow since Tuesday.

Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, saw a low of minus 10.7 degrees. The minimum temperature was minus three degrees in Manali as well as Dharamsala.

Keylong and Manali received 16 cm and 2 cm snow respectively. Dharamsala recorded 27.4 mm rain.

Upper areas in Manali in Kullu district experienced 80-100 cm snow in the past 24 hours.

Tourist resorts Dalhousie and Khajjiar in Chamba district also got moderate snow.

Officials said Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba were still cut off as roads were under a thick blanket of snow and efforts were being made to reopen them.

The Met Office said the weather would largely be dry in the state till Friday.