Cold wave grips Kashmir; temperature drops to -1.3 degrees Celsius in Srinagar

Cold wave tightened its grip across Kashmir on Sunday as mercury plummeted to minus 1.3 degrees Celsius in Srinagar.

A local MeT department official said the minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at minus 1.3 degrees against the previous night’s minus 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Minimum temperature in south Kashmir tourist resort of Pahalgam, which is also one of the base camps during the annual Amarnath yatra, settled at minus 4.2 degrees Celsius against previous night’s minus 4.3 degrees. Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 1.4 degrees Celsius against minus 1 degree the previous night.

Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh recorded a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius against last night’s minus 7.8 degrees while Drass in Kargil, the second-coldest place in the world after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 12.0 degrees Celsius.

Local MeT office has predicted that cold wave conditions are likely to continue till November 24 after which there is a possibility of rain or snow. However, there is no forecast of any major snowfall till the end of this month.

Meanwhile, dry spell Kashmir has resulted in a significant decrease in the water level in Jhelum river and other water bodies due to which power generation has been hit, resulting in prolonged power cuts, adding to people's misery in the biting cold.

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