Barring Gulmarg, night temperatures increased across Kashmir Valley amid cloud cover, the weatherman said on Monday.
A meteorological department official here told GNS that Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.2°C against minus 2.6°C on the previous night.
Similarly, the mercury settled at minus 4.6°C in Pahalgam against minus 5.9 °C on the previous night in the world-famous skiing resort. Qazigund, the gateway town of J&K, recorded a low of 0.2°C against minus 0.4°C on the previous night and was the only place where mercury settled above sub-zero level. Against minus 1.5°C on the previous night in Kupwara, the mercury settled at minus 1.0 °C in the north Kashmir district, the official said.
Gulmarg, the world-famous skiing resort, recorded a low of minus 9.6°C against minus 7.8 °C on the earlier night, the official said.
Kashmir is in the middle Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day winter period which commenced on December 21 and ends on January 31. The period is considered the harshest of the winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum.
The cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). Already, Kashmir Valley has received heavy snowfall earlier this month, disrupting normal life.
The Weatherman has forecast “mainly dry weather” in the next 24 hours and “no significant change till January 17”.