Shimla: Hill stations in Himachal Pradesh will miss a white New Year's Eve as hardly any snow has fallen in the past few days.
In the state capital, a bright, sunny but bone-chilling Saturday dashed the hopes of revellers to celebrate the last day of 2011 amidst snow.
Besides Shimla, other popular destinations like Kufri, Narkanda, Kasauli, Dharamsala, Palampur, Chamba, Dalhousie and Manali too are totally devoid of snow right now.
"The prominent hill stations have not experienced snow for over a fortnight now. There are chances of snow after Jan 3," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told a news agency.
"If the western disturbances remain active for a few days together after Jan 3, snow would cover Shimla, Manali and other tourist spots," the Met director added.
Though there has been no snowfall, temperatures across the state have been quite low.
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest in Himachal Pradesh, with a low of minus 7 degrees Celsius. Kalpa, some 250 km from Shimla, saw a night temperature of minus 4 degrees, while it was minus 2.2 degrees in Manali, 4 degrees in Dharamsala and 4.2 degrees in Shimla.
Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of buildings that were once institutions of power when it was the summer capital of British India, has hardly experienced snowfall so far.
For the first time in eight years, Shimla saw snow on the night of Dec 30 last year.
According to the Met office, it snowed in Shimla on New Year's Eve in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2002.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, December 31, 2011, 15:51