AMN / SRINAGAR
LEH IN LADDAKH, in Jammu and Kashmir experienced its coldest night this winter as the minimum temperature there settled nearly 14 degrees Celsius below the freezing point.
It was the season’s lowest night temperature in the town, which was the coldest recorded place in the state last night. Met Department the night temperature at the nearby Kargil town settled at a low of minus 11.2 degrees Celsius, a drop of two degrees from the previous night.
Srinagar city, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, down from minus 2.8 degrees Celsius the previous night. The mercury in Qazigund in south Kashmir settled at a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius, down down from minus 2.4 degrees Celsius the previous night. Kokernag town recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 4.1 degrees Celsius last night, down from the previous night’s minus 3.5 degrees Celsius. The mercury at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, a degree colder than the previous night’s minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.
The night temperature in Pahalgam — the famous health resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra -– recorded a low of minus 5.5 degrees Celsius – compared to yesterday’s minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of Chillai-Kalan’ – the 40-day period of harshest winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably. ‘Chillai Kalan’ ends on January 31, but the cold wave is likely to continue even after that in the valley, Met department said.
The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). The weather office has forecast mainly dry weather in Kashmir over the next few days.
