Kashmir gets slight respite from cold as minimum temp rises

There was some respite from cold wave conditions in Kashmir as the minimum temperatures rose by several degrees across the Valley, with the MET department here predicting dry and colder weather in the coming week.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 0.3 degree Celsius, an increase of four degrees from the previous nights low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET Department here said.
The mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, increased by a degree from the previous nights low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said the tourist resort of Pahalgam, which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, registered an increase of over five degrees from minus 7.9 degrees Celsius the previous night to settle at a low of minus 2.1 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Kupwara in north Kashmir also increased by over three degrees to settle at a low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag town in south Kashmir registered the minimum temperature of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, an increase of nearly two degrees from the previous night, the official said.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius, nearly three degrees up from the previous nights low of minus 10.5 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature of Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, also went up by nearly three degrees from the previous nights minus 13.7 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state, he further said.
The temperature in the nearby Kargil town increased by over a degree as the mercury there recorded a low of minus 9.0 degrees Celsius against the previous nights minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The official said the weather is likely to remain mainly dry and cold over the week ahead.

The night temperature will drop further below the freezing point, he said.
He said there is no prediction of rains or snow even on the advent of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day harshest period of the winter which begins tomorrow.
Chillai-Kalan, when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum, ends on January 31 next year.
The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long Chillai-Khurd (small cold) and a 10-day long Chillai-Bachha (baby cold).