Widespread snow likely in Himachal

Shimla, Feb 4 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh will receive widespread snowfall and rain starting Wednesday till Friday at least, the weather office here warned on Monday.

Residents and tourists have been advised not to venture out on the high hills as chances of snapping of road links were high.

Shimla, Narkanda, Chail, Kufri, Kalpa, Dalhousie and Manali are likely to receive moderate spells of snowfall, Met Director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

These towns had witnessed moderate spells of snowfall last week.

Kufri, Narkanda, Manali and Dalhousie were already covered in a thick blanket of snow.

The supply of essential commodities and transportation of people may get hampered in remote areas of the state with more snowfall, a government official told IANS.

The western disturbances -- storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- were likely to be active in the region by Monday evening, Singh added.

"The impact of the western disturbances will be largely seen in the state on February 7 (Thursday) with possibility of heavy snowfall in the high hills of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti districts," he added.

On the lower altitude, Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns were likely to see widespread rain that would bring down the temperatures considerably.

Shimla on Monday recorded a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 5 degrees in Kalpa, minus 0.6 degree in Manali, 4.2 degrees in Dalhousie, 2.3 degrees in Kufri and 4.8 degrees in Dharamsala.