Kashmir under deep freeze, Srinagar records season’s coldest night

Srinagar, Nov 23: Freezing cold conditions prevailed in Kashmir Valley as Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, experienced the coldest night of the season with temperature plummeting as low as minus 2.3°C on Tuesday.
A meteorological department official here said that minimum temperature in Srinagar was minus 2.4°C below normal for this time of the year and surpassed previous low of minus 1.6°C recorded only yesterday. The official said last year on November 22, minimum temperature dropped to minus 3.0°C in Srinagar while lowest ever was recorded November 29 , 1934 when mercury plummeted to minus 7.8°C.
Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 2.2°C against minus 2.2°C on the previous night, he said. It was minus 2.3°C below normal for the place, the official said.
Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 4.4°C against minus 3.7°C on previous night and it remained the coldest place across J&K.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.1°C against minus 1.3°C on previous night and normal of 0.6°C, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.0°C against minus 2.9°C on the previous night, the official said.
Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.0°C against minus 0.8°C on the previous night, the official said.
Ladakh’s Leh recorded a low of minus 8.5°C against last night’s minus 8.0°C while Kargil town recorded a low of minus 4.0°C. Drass in Kargil, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 12.8°C, the official said.
The weatherman has forecast mainly dry weather in Jammu and Kashmir with morning fog at isolated places over plains of Valley.
“Weather is most likely to remain cold and dry till ending November in whole J&K. However, there’s 40-50% chance of very light snowfall over extreme North Kashmir on November 25,” the official said. “Overall, there’s no forecast of any major weather for next two weeks.” (GNS)