Mild snowfall in tourist resort Manali

Cold wave conditions tightened its grip in most parts of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday with picturesque tourist spot Manali got fresh snowfall, weather officials said.

Also fresh spell of snow was witnessed in some places in Shimla district, bringing cheers on the faces of tourists.

The local Met Department has predicted chances of snow at some places from January 6.

The residents of this town shivered as icy winds brought down the minimum temperature to 0.7 degrees Celsius.

This was the season's significant low temperature that froze the "Queen of Hills", as Shimla was fondly called by the British.

According to the Met office here, Sarahan in Shimla district saw 6 cm snow, while Kothi near Manali saw 2 cm snow.

"High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts experienced moderate snow in the past 24 hours," a Met official said.

Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti was the coldest in the state with a low of minus 13.5 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which saw mild snowfall, recorded a low of minus three degrees Celsius, while the temperature was minus 1.2 degrees Celsius in Manali.

Dharamsala registered 2.8 degrees C.IANS