Srinagar: Kashmir Valley continued to reel under intense cold with night temperatures hovering several degrees below freezing point, giving residents a tough time.
The minimum temperature recorded in the summer capital Srinagar was minus 4.9 degrees Celsius, down by 0.3 notches from yesterday?s minus of 4.6 degree Celsius, a spokesman of the MET office said.
Kargil town in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 16.4 degrees Celsius, a degree warm than yesterday’s minus 17.4 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said, adding the nearby Leh town followed closely with a minimum temperature of minus 14.2 degrees Celsius, up from yesterday’s minus 18.0 degree Celsius.
He said the minimum temperature in the famous skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir plunged further to minus 9.8 degree Celsius from yesterday's minus 9.0.
The spokesman said the night temperature in Pahalgam hill resort in south, which also serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra, dropped slightly to minus 8.2 degrees Celsius from yesterday's 8.0 degrees Celsius.
The highway town of Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.8 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 5.4 degrees Celsius.
With temperatures remaining below the freezing point, the fringes of famous Dal Lake and other water bodies in Srinagar have seen a thin cover of ice during the night.
The MET Department said there is a possibility of rainfall or snowfall on 12th and 13th January, especially in the higher reaches.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 07, 2013, 14:03