J&K Dec 21: Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day severe period of winter, started on a harsh note on Wednesday with minimum temperatures plummeting to the season’s lowest in several places in Kashmir Valley including Srinagar which recorded a low of minus 4.2°C.
Quoting a meteorological department official, a local news agency reported that the minimum temperature in Srinagar was 1.1°C below the previous night’s minus 3.1°C. Overall, he said, the mercury was 2.7°C below normal during this time of the year and surpassed this season’s previous lowest of minus 3.6°C that was recorded in the summer capital on Friday last, the official said.
Qazigund recorded a low of minus 4.2°C against minus 3.6°C on the previous night. The temperature was 2.6°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 6.2°C against minus 5.4°C on the previous night. Besides being below normal by 1.8°C, it was also the coldest night this season in the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 2.4°C against minus 1.8°C on the previous night and it was 0.7°C below normal for the place, he said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 4.6°C against minus 4.0°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 0.2°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at minus 4.4°C against minus 3.9°C on the previous night, the official said. While being 2.0°C below normal, it was also the coldest temperature recorded so far in the north Kashmir place, he said.
