Srinagar: Kargil in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir experienced the coldest night of the winter so far as the mercury there witnessed a steep fall and settled over 10 degrees below the freezing point, even as most places in the valley continued to record sub-zero minimum temperature.
Kargil recorded a low of minus 10.4 degrees Celsius, nearly six degrees down from the previous night’s minus 4.6 degrees Celsius, an official of the Meteorological Department here said.
He said this was the lowest night temperature of the season so far in the frontier town.
The nearby Leh town recorded a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius up from minus 10.6 degrees Celsius yesterday, the official said.
He said Leh and Gulmarg were the only places in Kashmir division which registered an increase in the night temperature.
Gulmarg the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius up from minus 3.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.
He said the other famous health resort of Pahalgam – which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra registered the minimum of minus 3.1 degrees Celsius, a decrease of nearly two degrees from the previous night s minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.
The official said Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recorded the minimum temperature of minus 0.4 degree Celsius slightly down from previous night’s 0.2 degree Celsius.
The official said the mercury in Qazigund and Kokernag towns in south Kashmir settled at a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius and 1.1 degrees Celsius respectively.
He said Kokernag was the only place in the division to clock the night temperature above the freezing point.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The Meteorological Department has forecast mainly dry weather in the state for today, but predicted light rains or snowfall at isolated places in the state over two days afterwards.
