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Minus 7 degrees Celsius: Konibal in Pulwama records coldest night of season
In Kashmir valley, the night temperatures continued to dip far below zero and freeze the surfaces of water bodies in parts particularly Dal Lake.
Foggy weather conditions were witnessed in Jammu division while the night temperatures in the Kashmir valley again plunged below zero on Wednesday.
The meteorological centre in Srinagar said the plains of Jammu division witnessed moderate fog which is expected to continue.
“Moderate to dense fog with cold day conditions likely to continue over plains of Jammu during next two days,” said MeT director Mukhtar Ahmad.
In Kashmir valley, the night temperatures continued to dip far below zero and freeze the surfaces of water bodies in parts particularly Dal Lake.
Konibal in Pulwama in South Kashmir recorded the coldest night of the season when the temperature plunged to minus 7 degree celsius.
A MeT update said Srinagar recorded minus 4.8 degrees C, some 2.7 notches below normal on the intervening night.
The southern Pahalgam tourist resort was also freezing cold at minus 6.6 degrees C. The ski resort of Gulmarg in the north recorded temp of minus 3.8 degrees C, the only place having temperature some three notches higher than the normal.
The update said the gateway to Kashmir in South Kashmir, Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 4.6 degrees C while the southern area of Kokernag observed a minimum of minus 3.2 degrees C. In North Kashmir, Kupwara recorded a low of minus 5.3 degrees C.
Independent weather spotter Faizan Arif said on his Kashmir_Weather handle on X that the southern districts of Anantnag and Shopian recorded minimum temperatures of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius and minus 7 degrees Celsius respectively while the mercury plunged to minus 6 degrees Celsius in northern Baramulla district.
Kashmir’s harshest winter period, ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, began December 21 with the mercury dropping several notches below the freezing point at many places. It will end of December 31.
The month of December witnessed largely deficient precipitation with temperatures going below zero most of the time during night.
The MeT has predicted mostly dry weather till January 7. “From January 4 to 5, there is forecast of generally cloudy weather with dry weather over plains and possibility of very light snow over isolated extreme higher reaches,” said MeT director Mukhtar Ahmad.
“On January 8, there is a possibility of light rain/snow over isolated higher reaches,” he said.
Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21 accompanied with most of the snowfall, followed by 20 days of comparatively less intense chill (Chilla-i-Khurd), and final 10 days of mild cold (Chill-e-Bache).
