SRINAGAR: Barring Srinagar, night temperature fell below freezing point in Kashmir on Sunday.
A meteorological department official told that Srinagar received 0.4mm of rain in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours. The summer capital of J&K recorded a drop of 0.4°C in night temperature with the mercury settling at 1.4°C against last night’s 1.8°C, he said.
Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 0.4°C against minus 0.2°C on the previous night, he said.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, had a low of minus 1.8°C against minus 0.8°C on the previous night, the official said. Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, had 0.8 cms of fresh snowfall in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours today and recorded a low of minus 5.4°C against minus 0.8°C last night, he said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 9.5°C against minus 7.5°C on the previous night, he said.
The temperature was 3.7°C below normal for this time of the year in the famous resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said. Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.1 °C against 0.2°C on the previous night, the official said.
While ‘Chillai Kalan’, the 40-day long harshest period of winter ended on January 30, and 20-day long ‘Chillai Khurd’ culminated on February 19, Kashmir is presently under the grip of 10-day-long ‘Chilla Bachchan.
Jammu had 3.5mm of rainfall during the time and recorded a low of 8.1°C against 8.8°C on the previous night, the official said. The temperature was 3.5°C below normal for the J&K’s winter capital during this time of the year, he said.
Banihal recorded 2.2mm of rainfall and had a low of 0.8°C; Batote received 1.8mm of rain and recorded a minimum of 0.4°C while Bhaderwah had 0.3mm of rain and recorded a low of 0.3°C, the official said.
Ladakh’s Leh recorded a low of minus 7.5°C against last night minus 6.6°C on the previous night. Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 15.4°C, against 7.9°C on the previous night, officials said.
“There will be partly cloudy weather till March 1 and cloudy with possibility of light rain/snow (over higher reaches) during 2-3rd March,” the official said. “There’s no forecast of any significant weather till March 5,” he added. (GNS)
