Northern region shivers as Kargil freezes at 11.2°C
FORECAST As per meteorological department, cold and dry conditions will continue in HP, J&K over the next few days and temperatures are likely to dip
SRINAGAR/SHIMLA/CHANDIGARH: The region continued to reel under cold wave on Saturday with the Kashmir valley recording temperatures below the freezing point.
Kargil recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 11.2 degrees Celsius. Leh recorded a minimum temperature of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius, nearly four degrees down from the previous night’s minus 5.7 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 3.5.
A MeT department official said Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, down by one degree from the previous night.
Jammu woke up to a chilly morning as the night temperature settled at 5.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season. Katra recorded a low of 6.4, Udhampur 4.1, Batote 0.7 and Bhaderwah minus 1 degree Celsius.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, which had experienced the coldest December night in the past decade on the previous night at minus 10 degrees Celsius, recorded a low of minus 8.4 degrees Celsius last night, he said, adding that it was the coldest recorded place in the Kashmir valley.
COLD, DRY DAYS AHEAD
The MeT department has forecast cold, dry weather for a week in Kashmir. “Night temperatures will go down, while day temperatures will see a slight rise,” a MeT official said.
Traffic was allowed from Jammu to Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. However, owing to the poor road condition between Jawahar Tunnel and Ramban, only one-way movement was feasible.
HP REELS UNDER SEVERE COLD
Large parts of Himachal Pradesh reeled under severe cold conditions on Saturday, with the minimum temperature at several places plunging below freezing point, weather officials said.
State capital Shimla, which experienced an overnight temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, basked in sunny weather on Saturday. Popular tourist destination Manali, which experienced mild snow two days ago, recorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees.
Kalpa, some 250 km from here in Kinnaur district, saw a low of minus three degrees while it was minus 8.7 degrees in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district, the coldest in the state. According to a Met official in Shimla, cold conditions will continue in Himachal Pradesh despite dry weather till December end.