Slight respite from cold in Kashmir as minimum temp rises

Srinagar, Dec 17: A day after Srinagar witnessed the coldest night of the season, the minimum temperature increased at most places in Kashmir providing some relief to the residents, even as the MeT Office here has forecast mainly dry weather over the next few days.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degree Celsius, an increase of over three degrees from the previous night's minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, an official of the MeT Department said.

The city had witnessed the season's lowest temperature last night. The mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, went up from the previous night's low of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 1.3 degree Celsius, the official said.

He said the tourist resort of Pahalgam which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, registered a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius, an increase of over four degrees from the previous night's minus 7.3 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature also increased in Kupwara and Kokernag towns where the mercury settled at minus 1.5 degree Celsius and minus 1.9 degree Celsius respectively.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius and was the only place in Kashmir division where the night temperature dropped.

The resort had registered a low of minus 10 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.

Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, also witnessed an increase of over a degree in the night temperature as the mercury there settled at minus 12.6 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night's 13.8 degrees Celsius.

The nearby Kargil town recorded a low of minus 14.2 degrees Celsius same as the previous night, the official said, adding Kargil was the coldest place in the state. The MeT Department has said the weather would remain mainly dry over the next few days. However, it said, the sky would be partly cloudy.

PTI