At minus 15 degrees, Kargil coldest town in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jan 11: At a bone-chilling minus 15.2 degrees Celsius, Kargil was the coldest town in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

"This is the lowest recorded in any town so far this season," an official of the met department here told IANS.

Leh town recorded minus 14 degrees, Srinagar minus 3.6 degrees, Pahalgam minus 5.8 and Gulmarg minus 7.2 degrees Celsius.

"We are expecting further drop in night temperatures in the next 24 hours because of dry weather conditions," the official added.

Also on Monday, the minimum temperature was 7 degrees in Jammu city. It was 7.6 at the Mata Vaishno Devi Katra base camp, 2.5 at Bannihal, 0.6 at Bhaderwah and 2.3 dgrees in Udhampur town.

The 40-day ongoing period of extreme cold in the Kashmir Valley, known as the 'Chillai Kalan' that started on December 21, will end on January 31.