STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Sub-zero temperatures prevailed at night in most parts of Kashmir division with a thick layer of fog engulfing the Valley, even as the Met department here predicted mainly dry weather in the state in the week ahead, expected to cause a drop in the mercury.
Dense fog engulfed many parts of the Valley, including summer capital Srinagar, this morning, leading to poor visibility and causing difficulties to motorists, an official of the Met department said here.
The city had witnessed mainly clear skies for the last two days after a spell of rain on Saturday.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius — down from previous night’s 0.1 degrees Celsius. The official said the mercury in Leh town, in Ladakh region, increased slightly from the previous night’s low of minus 11.4 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius.
Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state. The data for nearby Kargil town was not available. There was fresh snowfall in many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir yesterday, including the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg. The snowfall led to a decrease in night temperature at the resort with the mercury there settling at a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius compared to minus 3.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.
Pahalgam — which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra – shivered at a low of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding that the resort was the coldest place in the Valley. Kokernag town in south Kashmir registered a low of 0.8 degrees Celsius — up from 0.4 degrees Celsius yesterday, the official said. Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 0.7 degree Celsius against minus 0.1 degrees Celsius the previous night, while Qazigund – the gateway town to Kashmir Valley — registered a minimum of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, which was two degrees down from minus 1.2 degrees Celsius yesterday.
The official said Kupwara town received slight rainfall during the night. The Meteorological Department has forecast mainly dry weather in the state over the week ahead, which could lead to further drop in the night temperature.
