Himachal cold; Keylong records minus 12.6 degrees

Himachal cold; Keylong records minus 12.6 degrees Shimla, Dec 24 : The cold wave intensified in Himachal Pradesh as the mercury plummeted further Thursday with Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district recording a minimum temperature of minus 12.6 degrees Celsius, the weatherman said.

"The temperature this (Thursday) morning dipped across the state with Keylong recording minus 12.6 degrees. It was minus 10.3 degrees Wednesday," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.

He said the high altitude areas have been experiencing extremely cold conditions despite no fresh snowfall in the past few days.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw minimum of minus 4.8 degrees, down by 0.8 degrees in comparison to Wednesday.

Shimla, located in mid-hills, also recorded a fall in minimum temperature, which was 2 degrees against Wednesday's 2.9 degrees.

Dharamsala, Bhuntar near Kullu and Palampur registered 3.1 degrees, minus 0.4 degrees and 2 degrees, respectively.

The Met department predicted sunny weather at popular tourist destinations Shimla, Kasauli, Manali, Chamba, Dalhousie and Dharamsala in the next few days.(IANS)