Bright day in Kashmir Valley, minimum temp in Srinagar minus 5.8 deg C

The sun shone bright on Kashmir Valley for the second consecutive day Tuesday as the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.8 degrees Celsius, a slight improvement from the previous night's minus 6.4 degrees Celsius.

Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, down by over a degree, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a minimum temperature of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius Monday night, a drop of three degrees.

Drass in Kargil region, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, witnessed a minimum temperature of minus 26.6 degrees Celsius Monday night, a MeT department official said Tuesday.

Mercury in Kargil settled at a low of minus 19.2 degrees Celsius while, the Leh region recorded a low of minus 17.5 degrees Celsius.

Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 7.7 degrees Celsius while Pahalgam registered a minimum temperature of minus 12.3 degrees Celsius.

Gulmarg registered a minimum temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius and a maximum of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.

According to the weatherman, this was the first time when the maximum temperature there stayed below freezing point for more than 24 hours.

The meteorological office has forecast dry weather for the next few days, followed by another spell of rain and snow from Friday.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' a 40-day harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.

'Chillai-Kalan' ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir. The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold).