Cold wave returns to Kashmir

After respite for two days due to rain and snowfall, cold wave conditions returned to trouble people as night temperatures hovered several degrees below the freezing point across the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region, except Srinagar where mercury settled at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Residents of Kashmir had some relief from the cold wave for the last two days as the temperatures rose by several degrees. However, as the weather remained dry, the minimum temperature plummeted to a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius - down by nearly four degrees from minus 4.0 degrees the previous night, a MeT Department spokesman said.

The mercury at Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp during the annual Amarnath Yatra, settled at minus 7.4 degree Celsius against previous night’s minus 1.0 degree, he said.

Kargil, in Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 15 degrees Celsius, same as the previous night while nearby Leh town recorded a low of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius against previous night’s minus 6.6 degrees, he added.