Season’s coldest night in Srinagar

An intense cold wave swept the Kashmir Valley today as minimum temperatures dropped below the freezing point overnight.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam, which also serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra, recorded slight improvement in temperature with mercury settling at minus 7.3 degrees against minus 7.5 degrees the previous night.

Kargil, a border town on Srinagar-Leh national highway, closed for the past four days due to snowfall, recording minus 12.1 degree minimum temperature, coldest of the winter so far.

Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius as compared to minus 0.8 degrees the previous night.

Biting cold has been causing problems to the people of the valley.

In Jammu region, minimum of 8.5 degrees was recorded in Jammu, 8.5 degrees in Katra, 2.5 degrees in Batote, 0.3 degree in Bhaderwah and 2.5 degrees in Banihal town. “This was the lowest temperature of the season so far”, an official of the regional Met department said.

“We expect an extra drop in the night time temperatures throughout the state in the course of the subsequent three to 4 days”.

Rain or snow is likely to occur during the next 24 hours at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir, further said the met official.

Although the 40-day long period of extreme cold known as “Chillai Kalan” is still a week away.

During the Chillai Kalan period, all the water bodies of Kashmir Valley including lakes, rivers and streams freeze while the roads become extremely slippery in the morning and the evenings.