Cold wave continues in Kashmir, Kargil coldest at minus 17degC

There was no major relief from cold wave in Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, as the minimum temperatures continued to remain below the freezing point, even as the MeT Department here predicted widespread rains or snow over the next week.
"There is possibility of fairly widespread rains or snow from February 16 to 18, with heavy precipitation at scattered places over the state," a MeT department spokesman said, adding the weather would remain mainly dry till then.
Kargil, in frontier region of Ladakh, continued to be the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir as the minimum temperature there settled at minus 17 degrees Celsius - same as the previous night.

He said the nearby town of Leh recorded a low of minus 12.4 degrees Celsius, over a degree up from minus 13.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, compared to the previous night's minus 1 degree Celsius, the spokesman said.
He said Pahalgam hill resort in south, which serves as base camp for annual Amarnath yatra, was the coldest recorded place in Kashmir with a minimum temperature of minus 6.9 degrees Celsius, as against the previous night's minus 8.8 degrees Celsius.

The mercury in the north Kashmir's famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, the star attraction for tourists especially skiers from abroad, settled at minus 5.4 degrees Celsius compared to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius the previous night, he said.

The spokesman said that mercury in Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu national highway settled at a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, as against minus 1 degree Celsius yesterday.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's minus 3.5 degree Celsius, the spokesperson said.
The mercury in Kokernag resort, in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 0.2 degree Celsius - slightly up from minus 0.6 degree Celsius the previous night.