Manali, Narkanda get season's 1st snowfall

Shimla, Nov 15 (IANS) There was overnight moderate snowfall in Manali and Narkanda, the season's first, a Met official said on Thursday as snow continued to elude the Himachal Pradesh capital here. The tourist resort of Manali recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius as the hills overlooking it also experienced moderate spells of snow, Manmohan Singh, Director of the meteorological office here, told IANS. He said the picturesque Kalpa, some 250 km from here, experienced seven cm of snow. "High-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba, Kullu and Kinnaur districts have been experiencing snow since early Thursday," he added. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest at minus 3.3.degrees Celsius, while it was minus 0.8 degrees in Kalpa, 8.8 in Dharamsala and 3.3 degrees in Shimla.

As news of the snowfall flashed across the plains, tourists started arriving at Manali and the nearby hills. Peaks overlooking other popular tourist resorts like Dharamsala and Palampur have also got fresh snow. The other hill destinations Shimla, Kufri, Dharamsala, Nahan, Chamba and Mandi got rains.