The Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region continue to reel under intense cold with night temperatures hovering several degrees below the freezing point.
The night temperature in the summer capital Srinagar plummeted from yesterday’s low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius to settle at a minimum of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, a MET Department spokesman said.
Kargil town in the cold desert of Ladakh was the coldest recorded place in the state with a low of minus 18.6 degrees Celsius as compared to yesterday’s minus 18.2 degrees Celsius, he said.
He added the nearby Leh town also witnessed a slight downfall in the minimum temperature which settled at minus 17.0 degrees Celsius, from the previous night’s minus 16.4 degrees Celsius.
The spokesman said the night temperature in Pahalgam Hill Resort in south, which serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra, improved by almost a degree to settle at a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius from yesterday’s minimum of minus 9.3 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in the famous skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was minus 9.0 degrees Celsius — slightly up as compared to the previous night’s minus 9.2, he said.
The spokesman said the highway town of Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.8 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature in Kokernag was minus 4.1 degrees Celsius and in north Kashmir’s Kupwara town the minimum settled at minus 3.6 degrees Celsius.
The weatherman has predicted improvement in the night temperatures across the Valley and frontier region of Ladakh on January 12 and 13, as there is a possibility of fresh snowfall in wide parts of the state.