Mercury dips in Valley

Srinagar, Feb 13: The minimum temperatures recorded a plunge in Kashmir Valley with Srinagar recording minus 4.0°C on Monday.
A meteorological department official said that there was a drop of 3.4°C against the previous night’s minus 0.6°C in Srinagar. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was below normal by 0.8°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 4.6°C against minus 1.5°C on the previous night and it was 3.6°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 10.0°C against minus 4.0°C on the previous night and it was 5.0°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 4.6°C against minus 2.3°C on the previous night and it was 3.1°C below normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 11.0°C against minus 13.5°C on the previous night and it was 4.8°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 5.7°C against minus 4.7°C on the previous night and it was 4.5°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 3.6°C against 5.8°C on the previous night. It was 6.5°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal, he said, recorded a low of minus 3.4°C (below normal by 2.2°C), Batote minus 1.7°C (below normal by 0.9°C), Katra 5.6°C (2.5°C below normal) and Bhadarwah minus 2.2°C (2.4°C below normal).
Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 16.8°C and minus 19.8°C respectively, the official said.
Regarding the forecast, he said, mainly dry weather was expected this week.
While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, Kashmir is under the grip of a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1. (GNS)