Night temperature rises in Kashmir

Night temperature went up and stayed above the freezing point in entire Kashmir even as the Valley continued to witness foggy weather, officials said here today.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of 1.8 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night's 1.9 degrees Celsius, an official of the Meteorological Department here said.
He said Kupwara, in north Kashmir, registered a low of 2.1 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night's minus 0.8 degree Celsius, while the minimum in Kokernag town in south Kashmir settled at 0.8 degree Celsius.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir registered a low of 1.0 degree Celsius, three notches up from the previous night's minus 2.0 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said the hill resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded the minimum of 1.6 degrees Celsius as compared to 0.2 degree Celsius yesterday.
The official said the minimum in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, was 1.4 degrees Celsius up from 1.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.

He said the night temperature in Leh town, in Ladakh region, settled at the low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius against previous night's minus 4.1 degrees Celsius.
Kargil town recorded the minimum of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.
The higher reaches of Kashmir received the season's first snowfall on Monday, but the weather has remained dry since then.

However, a thick layer of fog continued to engulf many areas in the Valley, including in the summer capital here.
The visibility improved for a few hours in the morning to allow resumption of air traffic to Srinagar airport after remaining affected for six days.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.6
degrees Celsius, while the mercury in Kokernag town in south Kashmir dipped two degrees from the yesterday's low of minus 4.4 degrees to settle at a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius, he said.
Leh town of Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place in the state as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 8.7 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' considered the harshest period of winter, when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
The Valley has already experienced heavy snowfall twice during this period so far, first one of January 6 and then on January 16, throwing life out of gear on both the occasions.
'Chillai-Kalan', which, began on December 21 last year, ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that.
The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold).