Night temperatures dip in Kashmir, hit -7.5 degrees

The minimum temperature in most parts of Kashmir dropped further due to clear night sky with ski-resort Gulmarg recording a bone-chilling low of minus 7.5 degrees Celsius on Friday night.

A MeT department official said Srinagar registered a drop of more than four degrees in night temperature compared to previous night as the city recorded a low of minus 0.8 degrees Celsius, against previous night’s 3.4 degrees.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with mercury settling at minus 7.5 degrees Celsius two degrees down by previous night. Pahalgam, a tourist resort which serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius, compared to previous night’s minus 4.1 degrees, he said.

Leh, in frontier Ladakh region, was the coldest recorded place in the state with night temperature dipping to minus 8.2 degrees Celsius. The temperature in the town, 434 km from here, has been receding in the past few days.

The MeT Department has forecast that there would not be any major change in the weather and it would remain dry for the next 48 hours which could lead to a further drop in the night temperatures.