Srinagar: Kashmir witnessed a rare sunny winter day today as overnight rains cleared the skies and pushed the mercury several degrees above the freezing point.
The two hour downpour last night ended a prolonged dry weather in the valley.
The minimum temperature in Srinagar — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir — rose by five degrees to settle at 0.5 degrees Celsius.
The city had registered the coldest night of this season the previous night as the mercury had dipped to minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.
The intense cold had resulted in the freezing of fringes of Dal Lake here and many other water bodies as well as drinking water taps.
Leh town in Ladakh region saw the minimum temperature rise by over 13 degrees last night.The cold desert region of the state recorded a low of 1.3 degrees Celsius against minus of 11.9 degrees Celsius the previous night, an official of the MET department said here.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low 1.2 degrees Celsius against minus 5.1 degrees Celsius previous night, up by 6.3 degrees.
Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir was the only place to record sub-zero minimum temperature last night at minus 2 degrees Celsius.
The ski resort received fresh snowfall last evening even as rest of the valley was hit by rains.
According to the MET department, Kupwara town received the highest 18.4 mm of rainfall followed by 6.1 mm in Kokernag area in south Kashmir.
Light rain or snow is expected at a few places across Jammu and Kashmir over the next 24 hours, the weatherman said.
PTI
