Kashmir’s intense winter period begins, Gulmarg coldest at minus 9.6 degrees | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Kashmir’s intense winter period begins, Gulmarg coldest at minus 9.6 degrees

Hindustan Times, Srinagar | ByAshiq Hussain
Dec 22, 2019 12:11 AM IST

There was light snowfall on Friday in the capital Srinagar and upper reaches of the valley. The weather was relatively better on Saturday.

The 40-day intense winter period – Chillai Kalan – began in Kashmir valley on Saturday even as winter has been prolonged this season after five spells of snowfall and rains since November 6.

A boatman removes snow from a boat during fresh snowfall in Srinagar on Friday.(Waseem Andrabi/HT PHOTO.)
A boatman removes snow from a boat during fresh snowfall in Srinagar on Friday.(Waseem Andrabi/HT PHOTO.)

There was light snowfall on Friday in the capital Srinagar and upper reaches of the valley. The weather was relatively better on Saturday.

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“Except for some rains at Qazigund, the weather was dry with improvement in day temperatures. There was some sunshine,” said an official of the meteorological department.

Normally, Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21(locally called Chillai Kalan) followed by 20 more days which are less intense (Chillai Khurd) and then lastly 10 days of mild cold (Chille Bache).

Meteorologist Mohammad Hussain Mir said that they cannot predict how the coming winter would behave but can certainly say that it has been prolonged.

“There have been 4-5 spells of wet weather already since November 6 this year. Last year also there was snowfall in November,” said Mir.

From November 6-8, Kashmir received the season’s first heavy snowfall which had affected life across the valley and disrupted air and road traffic. Then more rains and snowfall followed on November 14 and 21, bringing down the temperatures and closing the main highways.

Figures from the Met department reveal that November 7 witnessed a record snowfall of 76.8 mm in Srinagar, highest at-least since the year 2000. Overall there was 226.4 mm of precipitation in November, again a record in recent years.

“The actual winter has started now though we have witnessed prolonged winter period from the past two years. This year the minimum temperature in Srinagar has hovered around minus 4 degree Celsius so far, though it went down to minus 7 last year,” Mir said.

Light snow and rains lashed the mountains of Kashmir between December 11 and 14. On Friday, the upper reaches of the valley as well as capital Srinagar again received light snowfall.

As against the monsoon in the rest of the country, Kashmir mostly owes its precipitation to winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea which is locally called ‘Western Disturbance’. The wind patterns in the Atlantic Ocean also play their part.

“Western Disturbance is a phenomenon which keeps on going throughout the year. In winter the winds blowing at a height of 10 km from the sea level shift 28 degrees towards the north bringing the weather systems over the Kashmir valley. In summer they shift to 45 degrees north reducing its affect here,” Mir said.

The weatherman predicted that there is no wet weather system till January 1. “There will be cold weather 2-3 degrees lower than the average during the night while day temperatures may improve,” he said.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar on Friday night was recorded as minus 0.4 degrees Celsius while it was coldest in Gulmarg at minus 9.6 degrees. Leh witnessed minus 9.5 degrees, Drass minus 8.5 degrees and Pahalgam recorded a temperature of minus 3 degrees.

The snowfall in November had damaged the apple and saffron crop in many parts of Kashmir and trees got uprooted causing losses to cultivators. Nine people, including three army porters and a policeman were killed in snow related incidents. At-least 10 soldiers have also been killed in many incidents of snow avalanches in the past two months in Kashmir.

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