Cold tightens grip in the Valley, Ladakh region; Leh coldest

Most places in the Valley and Ladakh region witnessed a fall in temperature, with Leh town recording the lowest at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, even as the Meteorological Department here predicted a wet weather spell over the next few days.
The mercury also went down in all other recorded places in Kashmir and Ladakh Divisions as the cold wave tightened its grip in these regions, a spokesman of the MeT office said.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, registered a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius - about three degrees down from minus 0.4 degree Celsius yesterday.
Pahalgam - which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath Yatra - recorded the minimum temperature of 0.4 degree Celsius, down from 0.7 degree Celsius the previous night, the spokesman said.

He said Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir valley - recorded a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius as against minus 0.4 degree Celsius yesterday.
The night temperature in Kargil town, in the frontier region of Ladakh, settled at minus 5.2 degrees Celsius - a decrease of over three degrees from the previous night's minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.

The spokesman said the nearby Leh town was the coldest recorded place in the state as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, against the previous night's minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.
In summer capital Srinagar the mercury, however, went up.

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius, an increase from 1.1 degrees Celsius the previous night, the spokesman said.
He said the night temperature also increased in Kokernag and Kupwara towns of the Valley.
While Kokernag, in south Kashmir, recorded a low of 2.0 degrees Celsius - up from 1.7 degrees Celsius yesterday, the mercury in Kupwara, in north, settled at minus 1.1 degrees Celsius as compared to minus 1.3 degrees Celsius the previous night, the spokesman said.
The MeT office has said there was a possibility of rainfall or thundershowers at a few places in the state from tomorrow.

"There is possibility of rainfall at isolated places over three days from December 9," the spokesman said.