Srinagar records coldest December night in decade

Cold wave in Kashmir continued unabated on Monday with Srinagar recording the coldest December night after over a decade with the mercury plunging to 6.8 degrees Celsius below the freezing point.

A MeT Department official said the minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar on Monday was minus 6.8 degrees Celsius which was lowest in the last 11 years. Last time such severe December cold hit the city was on December 31, 2007, when the mercury dipped to minus 7.2 degrees, he said. The lowest ever recorded in December has been minus 12.8 degrees on Dec 13, 1964.

Due to intense cold famous Dal lake and other water bodies in the Valley were partially frozen. Dal lake was completely frozen twice in the last 53 years - in 1986 and 1964. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Kashmir was minus 14.4 degrees Celsius on January 31, 1893.

The minimum temperature in Pahalgam tourist resort in south, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, and world-famous ski-resort Gulmarg settled at minus 7.2 degree Celsius, the official said.

Kargil and Leh towns in cold desert Ladakh region also witnessed intense cold with mercury settling at minus 15.2 and minus 14.7 degrees Celsius respectively, he said. The present cold wave was likely to continue for another five days till Saturday.

Meanwhile, 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.

40-days ‘Chillai-Kalan’, considered the harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum, and the temperature drops considerably, began on Friday on a dry note.