Shimla, March 29 (IANS) The cold continued to retain its grip on Himachal Pradesh as higher reaches in the state received another spell of snow Friday, while low and mid hills witnessed widespread rainfall, an official said.

The weather office here has forecast dry weather Saturday onwards.
Shimla, which was cloudy, recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8 degrees Celsius Friday, a fall by 4.9 degrees from Thursday. It saw 7.5 mm of rain.
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state with a low of 1.1 degrees Celsius below the freezing point. The town recorded one cm of snowfall.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which recorded four cm of snow, slipped close to the freezing point, recording a low of 0.4 degree Celsius, while it was three degrees Celsius in Manali and 10.4 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.
Manali recorded a good 3.8 mm of rain.