Srinagar records coldest night of the season
Srinagar: Srinagar experienced the coldest night of the season so far on Saturday as Kashmir continued to reel under freezing night temperatures, the meteorological department said.
The Valley is bracing up for the 40-day harshest winter period, ‘Chillai-Kalan’, from Monday when the chances of snowfall are frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night’s minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, the weather officials said.
The mercury in Pahalgam in south Kashmir settled at a low of minus 9.5 degrees Celsius, the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir. The minimum temperature in Gulmarg was minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, up from minus 10.6 degrees, the officials said.
Qazigund the gateway town to the Valley recorded a minimum of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius, Kupwara registered a low of minus 6.0 degrees and Kokernag minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, according to the officials.
The Met department said while no major snowfall was expected till the end of the month, there was a possibility of light to moderate snowfall on Monday and Tuesday at isolated places of Kashmir.
Notably, due to harsh weather conditions, people are facing a lot of problems. The water taps have frozen in many places, causing a lot of inconvenience to the people who mostly start their activity late in the morning.
Some portions of the Dal Lake were also frozen due to the cold wave. The scheduled and unscheduled power cuts have made things worse for the inhabitants.
The weatherman has forecast mainly dry weather over Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for next few days, post ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day period of harshest winter in Kashmir, which begins on December 21.
While it will end on January 31, the cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
