The minimum temperatures plunged in Kashmir on Tuesday and the southern resort of Pahalgam witnessed the coldest night of the season, at -6.9°C. The resort had recorded -5.8°C on the previous night.
The India Meteorological Department (MeT) said that all the weather monitoring stations across the Himalayan Valley witnessed sub-zero temperatures on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
The ski resort of Gulmarg in north, where the temperature had plunged to -8.0°C on Monday, recorded a slight improvement at -6.6°C.
“In Srinagar, the temperature was -3.7°C, as compared to the previous night’s 0.5°C,” a MeT official said. The summer capital’s temperature was 2.2°C below normal.
The minimum temperature in southern Konibal was -5°C.
A MeT update said that Qazigund recorded a minimum of -4.2°C, down from 0.8°C on the day before.
The southern area of Kokernag observed a minimum of -3.1°C and in north Kashmir, Kupwara recorded -3.8°C.
Jammu city recorded a minimum of 5.7°C and Bhaderwah observed the lowest of -0.4°C.
The update added that weather would be dry for the next few days with possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches on December 23.
Chilai Kalan, Kashmir’s harshest 40-day winter period, starts December 21, which is expected to witness bone-chilling temperatures and heavy snowfall.
Kashmir gets 70% of its precipitation through Western Disturbances, moisture-laden winds from the Mediterranean.