Fresh snow in Shimla, Manali

Fresh snow in Himachal Pradesh's tourist resorts of Shimla and Manali Thursday resulted in cold wave conditions continuing in the state. The Met office said the chill would extend over the weekend.

"Shimla received 8.4 cm of snow whereas Manali got 15 cm in the past 24 hours (till Thursday morning),” a Met official told IANS.

He said there would be no relief from extreme cold as the state is in line for more snow and rain this weekend.

The minimum temperature in Shimla and Manali was minus 1.8 degrees Celsius and minus 2 degrees respectively.

Vehicular traffic in these towns remained partially affected in the morning due to a thick layer of frost.

Kalpa, some 250 km from here which experienced 5.6 cm of snow and saw the minimum temperature of minus 5.6 degrees, while it was 2.7 degrees in Dharamsala.The Met office said a fresh western disturbance as an upper air system is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from Jan 14.

“There are chances of widespread rain and snow in the state Sunday (Jan 15),” said Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office.