SRINAGAR: Srinagar experienced the coldest night in 11 years as the mercury continued its downward spiral in most parts of the Kashmir valley and Ladakh region. Severe cold wave swept through the valley bringing the temperature down at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. An official of the MET department said, “Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. This is the coldest recorded temperature in the city in almost 11 years. The city had registered a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius on December 31, 2007.”
It is reported that Dal Lake and water supply lines to residential areas have frozen. The present cold wave in Jammu and Kashmir was likely to continue for another five days till Saturday, as no change was expected. The all-time low recorded in the month of December in Srinagar is minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934. The official said Qazigund the gateway town to the valley – in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 3.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday night.
Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, he said. The night temperature in Pahalgam, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, the official said, adding the resort was colder than Gulmarg and the coldest place in the valley.
The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the minimum temperature of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, he said. The valley was presently passing through the 40-day harsh winter of Chillai Kalan which started on December 21 and will end on January 30. ‘Chillai-Kalan’ ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir. The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).