Kashmir gets respite from cold conditions as minimum tempearture rises

Srinagar: There was a huge respite in cold conditions in some places in Kashmir with the minimum temperature in Srinagar settling above the freezing point for the first time in the last 10 days.

The temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, increased by nearly six degrees from the previous night's minimum temperature of minus 5.6 degree Celsius and settled at 0.1 degree Celsius, a MeT official said here today.

The night temperature remained above the freezing point for the first time in the last 10 days in the city, which experienced the coldest night of the season yesterday, he
said.

The Kashmir Valley is currently under the grip of 'Chillai Kalan', which is considered to be the harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent.

The MeT official said that the minimum temperature also increased by over five degrees in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 2.1 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night at minus 7.2 degrees Celsius.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded minus 10.0 degrees Celsius, the official said.

The minimum temperature in Kupwara in north Kashmir went up by over four degrees from the previous night's minus 4.5 degrees Celsius to settle at zero degree Celsius, the official said.

He said Kokernag town in south Kashmir recorded the minimum temperature of minus 1.5 degree Celsius, while Qazigund settled at a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Leh, the frontier region of Ladakh, increased by nearly five degrees from the previous minus 15.1 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.

However, Leh was recorded as the coldest place in the state.

The temperature in the nearby Kargil town also increased by over four degrees as the mercury recorded a low of minus 10.0 degrees Celsius, the official said.

There is a possibility of isolated rains in the Valley, he said.