Cold wave back in Kashmir region

Srinagar, January 27

The cold wave returned in the Kashmir division as the night temperature in most places, including Leh, plunged further below the freezing point followed with clear skies and unusual sunny days.

The night temperature fell by 5°C in Leh town of the frontier region of Ladakh to settle at -12.9°C, making it the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir, a MeT Department spokesperson here said.

Leh recorded a low of -7.6 °C the previous night. In Kargil town, the minimum temperature improved by 6°C to settle at -8.0°C. The town has recorded a low of minus 14.4 °C yesterday.

The night temperature registered a dip in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir to settle at -8.4°C against the yesterday’s -7.0°C, the spokesman said.

Gulmarg experienced moderate snowfall last week. The southern Pahalgam hill resort recorded a minimum of minus 4.4 °C, down by 1.2 °C compared to the previous night, the spokesman said.

Kupwara town in north Kashmir, which recorded a low of 1.1°C yesterday, also registered a dip as the night temperature settled at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said. Qaizund recorded an increase of about two degrees as the night temperature there settled at 0.2 °C against -2.0 °C the previous night.

The Valley is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ during which the chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent. However, this year the weather had remained mostly dry with occasional snowfall or rains mostly in higher reaches. The unusual sunny days used to come as a great relief from the bone-chilling cold owing to freezing temperatures due to clear skies.

The maximum temperature recorded yesterday in Srinagar was 12.7 °C - seven degrees above normal during this part of the winter. —PTI