<p>Srinagar: The onset of Chillai-Kalan (harshest 40-day winter period), brought with it a biting cold as the mercury dipped to a bone-chilling -8.5°C in Srinagar making it the coldest night of December in the last over three decades.</p><p>A local MeT official said, this is the third lowest December temperature ever recorded in Srinagar in the last 133 years. “At -8.5°C Srinagar recorded the coldest night of December since 1990. All time lowest temperature was -12.8°C which was recorded on 13 December 1934,” he said.</p><p>Due to the freezing cold, portions of the Dal Lake in Srinagar city and other water bodies were frozen. The bone chilling temperatures caused fog in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir while water pipes and water taps were found frozen in the mornings.</p>.Kashmir reels under intense cold conditions; Srinagar experiences coldest night.<p>Dal Lake was completely frozen in 1965 when a jeep crossed the frozen surface from one end to the other. It was again frozen in 1986 when people played ice hockey and cricket besides taking photographs on the frozen surface.</p><p>Meanwhile, south Kashmir's tourist resort Pahalgam, which also serves as one of the base camps for the Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 8.6 °C while the famous ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 6.2°C.</p><p>Shopian, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 10.4°C while neighboring Anantnag recorded minus 10.5 °C, lowest recorded in the valley, he said.</p>.<p>The minimum temperature dips below freezing point during “Chillai Kalan” from December 21 to January 30 which is considered as the harshest period of winter in Kashmir. The gap between the day and night temperatures also narrows and, sometimes, the maximum temperature also remains below freezing point.</p><p>While Kashmiris are no strangers to the long and harsh winters, this cold was something different. “The chilly winds cut through the air with a sharpness that felt almost unnatural,” said Bashir Ahmad, a septuagenarian.</p><p>Doctors have warned elderly persons and children not to move out of their homes in the morning and evening when the temperature remains below freezing point because of icy cold winds.</p><p>The Meteorological Department has predicted that there will be mainly dry weather till the end of this month due to which temperatures can plummet further.</p>
<p>Srinagar: The onset of Chillai-Kalan (harshest 40-day winter period), brought with it a biting cold as the mercury dipped to a bone-chilling -8.5°C in Srinagar making it the coldest night of December in the last over three decades.</p><p>A local MeT official said, this is the third lowest December temperature ever recorded in Srinagar in the last 133 years. “At -8.5°C Srinagar recorded the coldest night of December since 1990. All time lowest temperature was -12.8°C which was recorded on 13 December 1934,” he said.</p><p>Due to the freezing cold, portions of the Dal Lake in Srinagar city and other water bodies were frozen. The bone chilling temperatures caused fog in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir while water pipes and water taps were found frozen in the mornings.</p>.Kashmir reels under intense cold conditions; Srinagar experiences coldest night.<p>Dal Lake was completely frozen in 1965 when a jeep crossed the frozen surface from one end to the other. It was again frozen in 1986 when people played ice hockey and cricket besides taking photographs on the frozen surface.</p><p>Meanwhile, south Kashmir's tourist resort Pahalgam, which also serves as one of the base camps for the Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 8.6 °C while the famous ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 6.2°C.</p><p>Shopian, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 10.4°C while neighboring Anantnag recorded minus 10.5 °C, lowest recorded in the valley, he said.</p>.<p>The minimum temperature dips below freezing point during “Chillai Kalan” from December 21 to January 30 which is considered as the harshest period of winter in Kashmir. The gap between the day and night temperatures also narrows and, sometimes, the maximum temperature also remains below freezing point.</p><p>While Kashmiris are no strangers to the long and harsh winters, this cold was something different. “The chilly winds cut through the air with a sharpness that felt almost unnatural,” said Bashir Ahmad, a septuagenarian.</p><p>Doctors have warned elderly persons and children not to move out of their homes in the morning and evening when the temperature remains below freezing point because of icy cold winds.</p><p>The Meteorological Department has predicted that there will be mainly dry weather till the end of this month due to which temperatures can plummet further.</p>