While the temperatures plunged to the season’s lowest at Pahalgam and Gulmarg resorts, Meteorological Department Saturday predicted dry weather for over a week.
On December 29, snow fell in the vast majority of Kashmir districts. “Over the coming days, the weather will primarily continue to be dry. In J&K, expect the minimum temperature to continue to dip, resulting in warmer days but cooler nights,” the MeT officials said. “Weather will remain dry in J&K for over a week.”
They said that many locations in Srinagar saw a minor improvement from the bitter cold as the minimum temperatures rose over the freezing point on Saturday.
“Srinagar’s low temperature increased from the previous night’s low of minus 0.3 degrees Celsius to 0.4 degrees Celsius,” they said. The MeT officials said that the temperature rose over freezing last night at Qazigund, the town that serves as the entrance to Kashmir.
“A low of 0.5 degrees Celsius was recorded in the town, an increase of 2.5 degrees Celsius,” they said, adding that the lowest recorded temperature in Kashmir was in Pahalgam.
“Pahalgam’s low temperature was minus 9 degrees Celsius,” the MeT officials said.
They said that the ski resort of Gulmarg in the Baramulla area of north Kashmir recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8 degrees Celsius, down from minus 5.5 degrees Celsius.
The MeT officials said that Kokernag resort in south Kashmir reported a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius while the frontier district of Kupwara saw a minimum temperature of minus 1.1 degrees Celsius against minus 0.8 degrees Celsius the previous night while the temperature was 2.1 degrees Celsius above normal.
They said Jammu recorded a low of 6.1 degrees Celsius against 7.3 degrees Celsius the previous night, 1.3 degrees Celsius below normal for the winter capital, which also remained engulfed in fog in the morning.
In the cold desert Ladakh, Leh recorded a low of minus 13.6 degrees Celsius and Kargil minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT officials said.
