Severe cold wave conditions continued unabated in Jammu Kashmir as Srinagar recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
A meteorological department official here said that the minimum temperature on Wednesday in Srinagar was down by 0.7 degrees Celsius from the previous minus 3.7 degrees Celsius recorded on the previous night, and it was 2.7 degrees Celsius below normal for the summer capital of J&K, he said.
The severe cold conditions led to choking of water taps as well as freezing of water bodies at many places in Srinagar and other districts.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius against minus 4.2 degrees Celsius on the previous night, he said. The minimum temperature was 2.4 degrees Celsius below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, the official said.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 6.3 degrees Celsius against minus 6.9 degrees Celsius on the previous night (coldest so far this season) and it was 1.9 degrees Celsius below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius against minus 3.1 degrees Celsius on the previous night, and the temperature was below normal by 1.4 degrees Celsius for the place, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius against minus 3.8 degrees Celsius on the previous night, and it was 1.1 degrees Celsius below normal there, the official said.
Gulmarg, the official said, recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius against minus 6.6 degrees Celsius on the previous night, and the temperature was 0.4 degrees Celsius above normal for the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir.
Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 6.4 degrees Celsius against 5.7 degrees Celsius on the previous night, and it was below normal by 2.5 degrees Celsius for the winter capital of J&K. Banihal recorded 5.4 degrees Celsius, Batote 5.0 degrees Celsius, and Bhaderwah 1.4 degrees Celsius, he said.
MeT has predicted “generally mainly dry” and cold weather in J&K till December 22.
On December 23, he said, the weather is expected to be generally cloudy with the possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches. From December 24-28, weather is expected to be generally dry. “Overall there is no significant weather activity till December 28”.