Srinagar shivers at -4.2°C

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 19

An unrelenting cold wave continues in Srinagar with the mercury plunging to an overnight low of -4.2 degrees Celsius as the region prepares for the winter’s harshest phase.

The minimum temperature in the Srinagar city was recorded at -4.2 degrees Celsius, which WAs a departure of two degrees from the normal, an official of the state Meteorological department said.

The Kashmir region is preparing for the 40-day-long harshest phase of winter, which begins on December 21. The phase is considered to be the severest part of Kashmir’s winter when mercury plunges to freezing levels and is accompanied by regular snowfall.

Leh town in the remote Ladakh region, which remains cut-off from rest of the state for most of the winter, recorded a freezing night temperature and registered a low of minus 12.5 degrees Celsius, the official said. Kargil, the second major town in Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 12.1 degrees Celsius.

In south Kashmir’s Pahalgam tourist resort, the mercury fell to minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, which was the lowest in any part of the Kashmir valley. In north Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort, minimum temperature was recorded at a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara town was recorded at minus 4.8 degrees Celsius while the gateway town of Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded the minimum of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, the official said.