Leh, Kargil, Srinagar witness coldest night of season

The cold wave in Kashmir division maintained its grip as Leh, Kargil and Srinagar registered their respective coldest nights so far this winter.
The mercury at Leh, in Ladakh region, dipped more than two degrees to settle at minus 13.5 degrees Celsius, the lowest minimum temperature recorded in Jammu and Kashmir this winter, an official of the MET department said.
The mercury in the nearby Kargil town settled at minus 9 degrees Celsius, a dip of nearly three degrees compared to minus 6.2 degrees Celsius recorded the previous night, he said.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, also saw the mercury dip slightly to minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, down 0.3 degrees from previous night, the official said.

He said the minimum temperatures recorded in Leh, Kargil and Srinagar were the coldest in these places this winter so far.
The official said Qazigund, Kokernag, Pahalgam and Kupwara also experienced sub-zero temperatures last night.

While the mercury settled at minus 2.2 degree Celsius in Qazigund town in south Kashmir, which was nearly six decimal points down from the previous night's minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, the minimum in nearby Kokernag was minus 0.5 degree Celsius, the official said.
He said Pahalgam, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded the minimum of minus 5.7 degrees Celsius compared to previous night's minus 4.5 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in north Kashmir, registered a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius.

The official said Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 5 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The Meteorological Department has forecast mainly dry weather in the Valley over the next few days.