Srinagar, Jan 9 : Parts of the Dal Lake in Srinagar were frozen on Friday as the city experienced the coldest night of the winter with the temperature settling several degrees below the freezing point across the Kashmir valley, officials said.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius on Thursday night, down from the minus 5.1 degrees Celsius on the previous night, they said.
Officials said it was the season’s coldest night in the city so far this season, and the minimum temperature was 4.1 degrees below the season’s normal.
The bone-chilling cold conditions led to the freezing of the parts of several water bodies, including the interiors of the Dal Lake here.
Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir as the minimum temperature there settled at minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, though up by one degree from the previous night.
The night temperature in the popular ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district settled at a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees up from the previous night, they said.
The tourist resort of Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district registered a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in Qazigund, the gateway town of the valley, settled at minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, the season’s coldest, the officials said.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius and Kupwara minus 5.8 degrees Celsius, they added.
Kashmir valley is currently in the midst of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, 40 days of extreme cold, during which night temperatures often drop several degrees below the freezing point, and the chances of snowfall are the highest.
‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, which began on December 21 last year, ends on January 30.
The plains of the valley have not received any snowfall so far this season.
The India Meteorological Department has said the weather is likely to remain dry but cloudy till January 21.
It said the night temperatures would witness a significant fall in the valley till January 10, after which they are likely to rise by one to two degrees.
