Shimla/Chandigarh: The cold wave eased its grip on Himachal Pradesh with no fresh snowfall or rain, while people in the plains in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana continued to shiver with the night temperatures plummeting further Tuesday, the meteorological office said.

Chilly winds swept the plains even as bright sunshine greeted the people in the region. The minimum temperatures hovered one to three degrees Celsius below normal in Punjab and Haryana. Cities in the plains like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Hissar and Rohtak have been recording lower temperatures during night and early morning hours than most of the places in the hills.

Bathinda town was the coldest in Punjab with the minimum recorded at 1.8 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Rohtak town reeled under the low of 3 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal. Himachal Pradesh's capital Shimla experienced a relatively warmer day with the maximum temperature touching 15.6 degrees Celsius while the minimum was recorded at 5.3 degrees. Another popular tourist destination, Manali also witnessed sunshine throughout the day.

In the tribal districts of the hill state, the minimum temperature also rose. Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti district, recorded the minimum temperature at minus-10.1 degrees Celsius, while Kalpa in Kinnaur district was at minus-3.5 degrees. These two places Monday witnessed minimum temperatures of minus-11.8 degrees and minus-5.9 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In Himachal Pradesh, Bhuntar recorded the minimum at 1.0 degree Celsius, followed by Una (1.8 degrees), Sundernagar (2.7 degrees), Dharamsala (4.7 degrees) and (Nahan 9.1 degrees), while in Haryana, the minimum also fell at Ambala (3.6 degrees), Karnal (4.6 degrees) and Hissar (6.3 degrees). Chandigarh recorded a low of 6.0 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, the minimum temperature at Halwara near Ludhiana remained low at 2.0 degrees, while Adampur near Jalandhar registered 2.2 degrees, Amritsar 3.0 degrees, Patiala 4.2 degrees and Pathankot 6.2 degrees Celsius. The meteorological offices in Shimla and Chandigarh have predicted light rain or snow at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and partly cloudy days in Haryana and Punjab during the next 24 hours.

Source : IANS