Shimla, Jan 9

 A cold wave swept Himachal Pradesh Thursday, with its higher reaches freezing in sub-zero temperatures.

Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, was the coldest with a minimum temperature of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius. It also saw 9 cm snow in the past 24 hours.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district touched a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while it was the freezing point in Manali, 0.7 degree in Shimla and 5.6 degrees in Dharamsala, an official of the meteorological office here told IANS.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) - located on the Manali-Leh highway - received heavy snowfall.

The resort town of Kalpa, some 250 km from the state capital, recorded 15 cm snow, while Manali experienced 20.2 mm rain.

The entire tribal belt in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu, Sirmaur and Chamba districts witnessed heavy snowfall in the past two days, he said.

He said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - are likely to remain active in the region Jan 10.

By:IANS