Kargil records -18.8 deg C as Jammu and Kashmir shivers under sub-zero temperatures

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday night.

There was no respite from cold wave conditions in Kashmir division on Monday, with the minimum temperature remaining several degrees below freezing point.

Icicles formed by a leaked water pipe on tree branches in Shopian, south of Kashmir. (File)

Kargil town, in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, shivered at a low of minus 18.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, an official of the Meteorological Department (MeT) said here.

The nearby Leh town was the second coldest region in the state as the mercury settled at a low of minus 14.3 degrees Celsius, marginally up from minus 14.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday night.

Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, the MeT said.

The night temperature in Qazigund in south Kashmir settled at a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while the neighbouring Kokernag town registered a minimum of 0.9 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius.

The official said the night temperature in Pahalgam - the famous health resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra - settled at a low of minus 5.7 degrees Celsius compared to the low of minus 6.1 degrees Celsius the previous night.

The MeT office has forecast light rain or snowfall at isolated places in the state on Tuesday.

Kashmir is under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’, a 40-day harshest period of winter when chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum, and the temperature drops considerably.

However, a month into the period, the weather has largely remained dry, especially in the plains.

This period is followed by 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).