Cold wave continues in Kashmir Valley, minimum temperatures rise by a degree

SRINAGAR: The minimum temperatures at most places in Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, rose by around a degree even as the MeT Department here predicted rains or snow in the next few days.

Srinagar registered an increase of a degree in the night temperature which settled at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius compared to minus 3.7 degrees Celsius the previous night, a MeT Department spokesman said.

Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley in south, recorded a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius against the previous night's minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, he said.

The mercury in south Kashmir hill resort of Pahalgam, which also serves as a base-camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a minimum of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius, he said.

Pahalgam was the coldest recorded place in the Valley, the spokesman said.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, the star attraction for tourists visiting the Valley during winter, registered a minimum of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius - over a degree up from the previous night's minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.

He said the night temperatures in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius - an increase of 1.5 degrees from the previous night's 4.1 degrees Celsius.

Kokernag, in south Kashmir, recorded the minimum of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, he said.