No respite from cold wave in Kashmir Valley

According to the MeT office, the minimum temperature in Srinagar was -4.6 degrees Celsius, up from yesterday's -5.4 degrees Celsius, which was the season's coldest.

Leh town in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 18.0 degrees Celsius, about two notches down from yesterday's minus 16.2 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said, adding the nearby Kargil town followed closely with a minimum temperature of minus 17.4 degrees Celsius.

It is learnt that the famous skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest place in the Valley with a low of -9.0 degrees Celsius.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam, which also serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of -8.0 degrees Celsius, about three degrees lower from yesterday's -5.4 degrees Celsius, he said.

Qazigund, in south Kashmir recorded a low of -5.8 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature in Kokernag was -4.0 degrees Celsius. North Kashmir's Kupwara reported a minimum of -5.2 degrees Celsius.

The MeT department said that dry cold conditions would persist for a few more days and could lead to a further dip in the minimum temperatures.

With temperatures remaining below freezing point, the fringes of the famous Dal Lake and other water bodies in Srinagar continued to form a thin layer of ice in the night hours.