Srinagar: Last night, the mercury dipped across Kashmir Valley with Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort, recording a low of minus 11.0 °C, the weatherman said on Wednesday.
A Meteorological Department (MeT) official said that the minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at minus 2.1°C against 0.0°C on the previous night. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 11.0°C against minus 7.5°C on the previous night. Pahalgam, the famous tourist destination in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 9.0°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night. Qazigund recorded minus 2.5°C against minus 0.4°C on the previous night, Kupwara recorded minus 2.8°C while Kokernag was the third coldest place in Valley as the mercury settled at minus 6.5 °C last night, the official said.
Kashmir is in the middle Chillai-Kalan, the forty-day winter period which commenced on 21 December and ends on 31 January. The period is considered the harshest of the winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum.
The cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a twenty-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd‘ (small cold) and a ten-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
The weatherman has forecast mainly dry weather over Jammu and Kashmir for the next week or so, saying there would be no significant change before 5 January when there is a possibility of widespread snow and rain across the Valley. (GNS)