Srinagar: Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, witnessed the coldest night of the season at minus 3.8 degrees Celsius as the cold wave in the Valley intensified, resulting in freezing of water supply lines in many areas.
The Srinagar city recorded the lowest minimum temperature of this winter. The mercury plunged 0.5 degrees below the previous low of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius recorded on Wednesday, a MeT Official said.
The drop in the night temperature resulted in freezing of water supply lines in many areas while a thin layer of ice had also formed on some small stagnant water bodies.
As a precautionary measure, the authorities of Public Health Engineering have resorted to snapping of water supply during night to prevent any damage to the pipes.
Gulmarg resort in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius, while the Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, the MeT official said.
South Kashmir's gateway town of Qazigund froze at a minimum temperature of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature in north Kashmir frontier Kupwara district plunged to a low of minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, he said.
In the remote Leh district of Ladakh region, the mercury plunged to a low of minus 13.0 degrees Celsius.
The weather is expected to remain dry for the next 24 hours, the official said.
Kashmir is less than a week away from 'Chillai Kalan', a forty-day period of extreme chilling weather which begins December 21, when heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures even during the day forces residents to stay indoors.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 16, 2011, 13:09