STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Most places in Kashmir division continued to experience sub-zero temperatures as the cold is slowly tightening its grip, with the summer capital Srinagar witnessing the coldest night of the season so far.
Srinagar experienced the coldest night of the season so far as the minimum temperature went further down from the previous night’s minus 1.9 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, an official of the Met Department here said.
He said the night temperature in the city was continuously on a decline since the last few days and the drop in the night temperature is attributed to the continued dry spell in the Valley.
There was very scant rainfall over the past two months due to which the days remain warmer while the night temperature continued to be on a decline.
Leh, in frontier Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, was the coldest recorded place in the state as the night temperature plummeted to minus 8.5 degrees Celsius. The official said Kargil town, also in Ladakh region, recorded the low of minus 6.5 degrees Celsius.
The hill resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest place in the Valley, he said.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir registered the low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, while Qazigund in south registered the low of minus 2.0 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag, in south Kashmir, was the only recorded place in the Valley where the minimum temperature remained above the freezing point at 0.2 degrees Celsius, the official said. The MeT office has forecast mainly dry weather for the next 24 hours and the night temperatures are expected to fall further.