Fog engulfs blazing Chinar trees as mercury dips in Kashmir. PHOTO/JAVED KHAN
Srinagar: Early morning fog and cold wave gripped Kashmir on Monday as the minimum temperature in the valley dipped below the freezing point at several places, including Srinagar city last night.
Srinagar city, the summer capital, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 0.8 degrees Celsius, which was 1.2 degrees below the normal temperature for this time of the year, an official of the Indian Meteorological Department said.
The maximum temperature has also shown a decrease with the city recording a high of 12.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
The foggy conditions also disrupted the air traffic temporarily, however, as per Airport authorities 5249 passengers arrived in 30 flights today while as 5513 departed from Srinagar on equal number of flights.
Shopian was the coldest recorded place in the valley as the mercury settled at minus 3.8 degrees Celsius last night followed by Pahalgam in south Kashmir at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius.
Bandipora in north Kashmir recorded a low minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, while Gulmarg recorded minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.
Srinagar city was covered by a dense fog early in the morning, causing difficulty to the motorists due to the low visibility.
The weather is expected to remain dry across the valley over the next 48 hours.
