Kashmir shivers despite sunny days

Despite sunny days, cold wave conditions continued across the Kashmir Valley on Sunday with Drass area in Ladakh region recording season’s coldest night at -27 degree Celsius.

An official of the local Met office said the minimum temperature in Drass, which is believed to be second coldest inhabited place in the World, settled at bone-chilling minus 28.7 degrees Celsius. Even the maximum temperature in Drass did not rise above the freezing point as it settled at minus 10.1 degrees Celsius.

He said Kargil town in Ladakh region witnessed a minimum of minus 20.7 while in neighbouring Leh town mercury settled at minus 15.5 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar was minus 1.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday while it was minus 13.0 in southern Pahalgam hill resort and minus 12.0 in northern ski-resort of Gulmarg.

“Dry cold conditions would persist for a few more days and could lead to a further dip in the minimum temperatures. There is a possibility of rain and snowfall from the first week of February, especially in the higher reaches,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Srinagar-Jammu national highway reopened partially for one-way traffic after remaining closed for six days. The 264-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was closed on January 21 following heavy snowfall in the Jawahar Tunnel area and multiple landslides triggered by the incessant rains.