Kashmir shivers as cold wave persists

The minimum temperature in Srinagar dropped over one degree to settle at a low of minus 6.7 degree Celsius as compared to minus 5.5 degrees the previous night. (DH Photo)

The cold wave tightened its grip further in Kashmir as minimum temperatures in the Valley continued to remain several degrees below the freezing point.

A MeT Department official said Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, recorded the coldest night of the season at a bone-chilling minus 17.1 degrees Celsius. The town was also the coldest recorded place in the state. Neighbouring Kargil town was the second coldest place in the state with a low of minus 14.4 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar dropped over one degree to settle at a low of minus 6.7 degree Celsius as compared to minus 5.5 degrees the previous night, he said.

The minimum temperature in Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir was slightly down to settle at minus 7.9 degrees Celsius from the previous night's minus 7.7 degrees, the official said. In ski resort of north Kashmir’s Gulmarg, the minimum night temperature settled at minus 9.4 degrees Celsius as compared to the previous night’s minus 7.6 degrees.

He said Jammu city recorded the season's coldest night at 3.5 degrees Celsius. Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine base camp Katra recorded 4.2, Batote minus 1.3, Bannihal minus 3 and Bhaderwah minus 2.1 as the minimum temperatures, the official added.

Kashmir is currently going through ‘Chillai-Kalan’, considered as the harshest 40-day winter period, which started on December 21 and will end on January 30. With the MeT Department predicting chances of snowfall from December 31 onwards, the bone-chilling cold conditions could continue till the end of this month.