Himachal may ring in white New Year

The hill stations in Himachal Pradesh may ring in a white New Year as the Meteorological Office on Tuesday forecast snow in the state from January 2. In the state capital, a bone-chilling morning revived the hopes of revellers to celebrate the coming year amid the snow.

"There are chances of snowfall in many places on January 2 and 3 as the western disturbances will be active," Manmohan Singh, Director of the Met office here, told IANS.

The probability of snowfall in Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Manali, Kalpa and Dalhousie is high from January 2.

"For the past two days we have been desperately awaiting the onset of snow. With the Met predicting snow in next few days, we are hoping to enjoy the New Year with hurling of snowballs," said Kavita Gupta, a tourist who is in Shimla along with her friends from New Delhi.

Like Shimla, other popular destinations Kufri, Chail, Kasauli and Dalhousie were totally devoid of snow these days.

Though there has been no snowfall in the state since December 13, temperatures across the state have been quite low.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest in the state with a low of minus 8.2 degrees Celsius. Kalpa, some 250 km from Shimla, saw a night temperature of minus three degrees, while it was minus 1.4 degrees in Manali, 2.4 degrees in Dharamsala and minus 0.4 degrees in Dalhosuie.

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Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of buildings that were once institutions of power when it was the summer capital of British India, saw a low of 1.2 degrees Celsius.

According to the Met office, it snowed in Shimla on New Year`s Eve in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2002.