Srinagar: Residents of the Kashmir Valley got a slight respite from the intense cold wave today but the minimum temperatures across the region remained several degrees below the freezing point with Leh recording minus 16 degrees.
The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, an increase of 1.3 degrees from yesterday, a MeT official said.
The city witnessed the season`s coldest night earlier this week when mercury dipped to a low of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius. Small stagnant water bodies and water-filled road potholes in the city were covered with a layer of ice. The remote Leh district of Ladakh region witnessed a decrease of 1.6 degrees in the minimum temperature which settled at minus 16.0 degrees Celsius, the official said. Kargil district, also in mountainous Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 15.0 deg C, a decrease of 2.2 degrees compared to yesterday, he said. The skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the minimum temperature at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, he said. There has been a drastic drop in temperatures since `Chillai Kalan`, a forty-day period of extreme cold weather that began last week.
The tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a minus 7.0 deg C, a increase of 0.6 degrees compared to yesterday.
The gateway town of Qazigund in south Kashmir also recorded a low of minus 5.2 deg C while Kupwara district in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 3.5 deg C.
PTI