Cold wave grips Kashmir; Leh and Kargil get some respite

Srinagar, Jan 16 (PTI) The Valley was today gripped byintense cold wave with temperature coming down to a record lowof minus 16.1 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam resort, resulting inpartial freezing of Dal lake and other water bodies in thestate, a MET department official said.

Pahalgam in south Kashmir, recorded the coldest nightof this winter as mercury plunged by nearly 14 degrees sincethe previous night.

Gulmarg in north Kashmir saw a sharp dip in minimumtemperature as mercury fell to 14.2 deg below freezing pointcompared to yesterday''s minus 10.6 deg C, the official said.

Srinagar also saw the night temperature settle atminus 3.7 deg C.

Kupwara froze at minus 8.1 deg C while Qazigund had aminimum of minus 7.6 deg C.

However, residents of Ladakh, which is the coldestregion in the state, got some respite from the cold wave asnight temperature increased by a couple of degrees in both Lehand Kargil district town headquarters.

While Kargil recorded a minimum of minus 13.4 deg Ccompared to yesterday''s minus 16.4 deg C, Leh had a nighttemperature of minus 8.0 deg C -- 1.4 deg C higher than lastnight.

The sudden plunge in the minimum temperature acrossthe Valley was due to the heavy snowfall on Friday, which hadbrought the minimum temperature close to freezing point.

The fresh cold wave has resulted in formation of thinlayer of ice on the surface of Dal Lake and several otherwater bodies in the valley, officials said adding water tapsin many parts of the valley were also frozen due to the dip inminimum temperature.