Srinagar, other places experience coldest night

Srinagar: Srinagar and few other weather stations in Jammu and Kashmir experienced the coldest night of the season so far as the minimum temperature plunged several degrees below the freezing point at most places in the valley, officials said on Thursday.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius last night against minus 5.2 degrees Celsius the night before.
The officials said that last night was the coldest of the season so far in the city.
The minimum temperature recorded was also the second lowest in the month of January in the last five years.
In 2021, the city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius on January 31.
Apart from Srinagar, Qazigund and Kupwara also experienced the coldest night of the season, according to the officials.
Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, registered the minimum of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius a degree down from the previous night.
Kupwara, a frontier district, also recorded the minimum of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees, the officials said.
The tourist resort of Pahalgam in Anantnag district, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered the low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius and was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.
The minimum temperature in Gulmarg, the famous ski resort town in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, recorded a temperature of minus 7.5 degrees Celsius, the officials said.
The Met office has forecast dry weather for the region, leading to colder nights and slightly warmer daytime temperatures, over the next couple of days.
Doctors said that less-than-normal precipitation this winter has resulted in increased respiratory problems for residents, particularly the children and the elderly.
The sub-zero temperatures have resulted in several water bodies in the valley freezing.
However, the Met Office has said there is a possibility of light to moderate rain/snow over many places of J-K during the second week of January.
There is a possibility of light snow over scattered places towards night on January 7, with a 70 per cent chance of snowfall at many places of J-K over few days from January 8 to 13.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of Chilla-i-Kalan, the 40-day harshest weather period when the chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent.
‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ begins on December 21 and ends on January 30.
The cold wave continues even after that with a 20-day-long ‘Chilla-i-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chilla-i-Bachha’ (baby cold) following it.