Srinagar: Cold wave conditions intensified in Kashmir on Friday as mercury plunged by two degrees in Srinagar, while the minimum temperature elsewhere in the Valley stayed mostly 10 degrees below freezing point, officials said.
Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 7.7 degrees Celsius – plunging more than two degrees from minus 5.6 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.
Qazigund – the gateway town to the Valley – recorded a minimum of 10.8 degrees Celsius – down from minus 10.5 degrees Celsius the previous night, they said.
The minimum temperature at the Gulmarg skiing resort, in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, settled at minus 11.3 degrees Celsius last night – up from last night’s minus 13.4 degrees Celsius.
Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius – marginally up from previous night’s minus 12.3 degrees Celsius.
Kupwara recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag, in the south, minus 11.4 degrees Celsius.The extreme subzero temperatures have resulted in freezing of water bodies and drinking water supply lines in many areas of the Valley.
The weatherman has forecast the possibility of improvement in minimum temperature as western disturbance is hitting the Valley on February 02.
Director Meteorological department Sonum Lotus said that there will be respite from the cold wave conditions in Kashmir from January 31st. “The night temperature will increase gradually from Jan 31,” he said.
He added that there is no forecast of heavy snowfall across Kashmir, however, there is possibility of light snowfall at scattered places in Kashmir in the first week of February.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ — the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water-bodies including the Dal Lake here.
