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At -5.8°C, Srinagar records season’s coldest night
The meteorological department said the night temperatures fell across the Valley to a lowest of -7 degrees Celsius in southern resort of Pahalgam
The night temperatures plunged further in Kashmir valley on Sunday with Srinagar, Pahalgam and Kupwara regions recording coldest night of the season so far.
The meteorological department said the night temperatures fell across the Valley to a lowest of -7 degrees Celsius in southern resort of Pahalgam. On Thursday, it had recorded -6.8 degrees Celsius.
Srinagar also recorded this season’s lowest temperature during the night at -5.8 degrees Celsius as against -5.5 degrees on Thursday.
“Icy winds swept Kashmir. Srinagar froze at minus 5.8°C. In 2018, on December 28, temperature had dropped to minus 7.7°C in Srinagar. The lowest ever temperature is minus 12.8°C recorded on December 13, 1934,” said Faizan Arif, an independent weather spotter.
Kashmir’s harshest 40-day winter period, Chillai Kalan, had started on Wednesday with bone-chilling night temperatures since then.
The MeT update said that ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of -5.6°C against -6.4°C the previous night. The frontier Kupwara district also saw a temperature of -6°C, lowest so far in the district.
The days witnessed clear skies and some sunshine, which triggered harsh temperatures during nights. Dal Lake has been freezing during night.
The MeT department said they were also hopeful of a break in dry weather from December 26.
“There will be a slight improvement in minimum temperature and also some respite from dry weather from December 26 to 31,” said deputy director, MeT, Mukhtar Ahmad.
The weather update said that in Jammu division, Bhaderwah and Banihal were the coldest at -1 degree and -0.3 degrees, respectively. The night temperature dropped to 4.1°C in Jammu, while it was 5.8°C in Katra. Leh and Kargil in Ladakh shivered at -14.5°C and 12.4°C, respectively.
