Srinagar, Dec 20:
Cold wave conditions intensified in Kashmir Thursday as the minimum temperature dropped at most places and residents in some areas of the city reported freezing of water supply lines. The night temperature dipped drastically in Leh district of Ladakh region as the mercury plunged nearly nine degrees Wednesday night, a Meteorological (MeT) Department official said. The mercury fell from minus 6 degrees Celsius previous night to minus 14.7 degrees Celsius, he said. In Srinagar — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir — the night temperature dropped more than two degrees to settle at minus 4.9 degrees Celsius Wednesday night compared to minus 2.8 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said. The normal for this time of season in the city is minus 1.5 degrees Celsius. The official said Qazigund — the gateway town to the valley in south Kashmir — recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, while nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius and Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.5 degrees Celsius Wednesday night, he said. The night temperature in Pahalgam, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius Wednesday night — up from the previous night’s minus 8.4 degrees Celsius.
The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the minimum temperature of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius last night — down from the previous night’s minus 4 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The normal for this time of the winter in the twin resorts is minus 4.4 degrees Celsius and minus 4.8 degrees Celsius respectively.
Cold wave conditions are expected to intensify as the valley braces for the harshest 40-day winter period called ‘Chillai Kalaan’, which will begin on Friday.
