Srinagar: Kashmir Valley reeled under severe cold with the skiing resort of Gulmarg recording the coldest night of this season as mercury plummeted 12 degrees below freezing point.
The skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed the season`s coldest night with the minimum temperature slipping to minus 12.0 degrees Celsius, a drop of 0.6 degrees as compared to yesterday, a MeT official said. In the south Kashmir tourist resort of Pahalgam, the minimum temperature dropped further to settle at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, the official said. Chillai Kalaan, the forty-day harshest part of winter in the Kashmir Valley, began on December 21.
In remote Leh district of Ladakh region, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 17.8 degrees Celsius, a decrease of 1.6 degrees compared to yesterday.
In its adjoining Kargil district, mercury plunged to a low of minus 13.4 degree Celsius, the official said. In the summer capital Srinagar, the minimum temperature remained below freezing point and was recorded at minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.
The weather is expected to remain dry in the Valley for another day, the MeT official said.
PTI