Kashmir shivers in cold, Leh records minus 8.7 deg C

There was respite from cold wave conditions in Kashmir Thursday morning even as all weather stations in the valley recorded sub-zero temperatures last night.

In Srinagar, the mercury settled at minus 2.6 degree Celsius last night, a MET department official said.

The city had recorded the lowest this season two nights back as temperature dipped to minus 3.2 degree Celsius.

The official said other places across the valley and Ladakh region also experienced sub-zero temperatures last night.

He said Pahalgam, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, registered a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, up from minus 5.1 degrees Celsius the previous night. Pahalgam, a health resort in south Kashmir, was the coldest recorded place in the valley.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the minimum of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, down 0.6 degrees from the previous night, he said.

The official said Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 2.2 degree Celsius, while the mercury in the nearby Qazigund settled at minus 2.0 degrees Celsius. He said the temperature in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, was at a low of minus 1.7 degrees Celsius, up from minus 3.0 degrees Celsius the previous night.

Leh, in Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 8.7 degrees Celsius, up from minus 11.4 degrees celsius the previous night, the official said.

He said Leh was the coldest recorded town in the whole state.