Cold wave in J&K, Srinagar shivers at -0.4 degrees

With the cold wave tightening its grip in Jammu and Kashmir post heavy snowfall, Srinagar recorded the season’s lowest minimum temperature of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

A Met Department official said minimum temperatures across the Valley dropped below the freezing point on Sunday. The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in Kashmir as the night temperature there dropped to minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir, which serves as one of the base camps during the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius, he said. Kargil town in Ladakh region recorded a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius which was the coldest of the season.

The official said Banihal town was the coldest in the Jammu region as the minimum temperature there fell to 0.4 degrees Celsius while mercury settled at 10.4 and 13.4 in Katra and Jammu city respectively.

He said after Saturday’s heavy snowfall in Kashmir, the weather is expected to improve from Sunday afternoon. Dry weather is expected in Jammu and Kashmir from Monday for two to three weeks, he added.