Cold wave intensifies in Kashmir, Kargil shivers at minus 10

SRINAGAR: Cold wave tightened its grip in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region as the night temperatures at most places slipped further below the freezing point with Kargil shivering at the season's lowest of minus 10 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, slightly down from the previous night's minus 1.1 degrees Celsius, a spokesperson of the MET Department here said.

The city had witnessed the same temperature on Friday when it registered the coldest night of the season.

The mercury in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath Yatra, dropped by a degree to minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, the spokesperson said.

Qazigund, in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, a drop of almost one degree from the last night's minus 1.4 degrees Celsius, he said.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg registered a low of minus 1.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum in Kokernag, in south Kashmir, settled at minus 0.1 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in north, registered a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius.

The mercury in Leh, in Ladakh region, recorded a low of minus 9.3 degrees Celsius, a drop of over two degrees, while Kargil registered a low of minus 10 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest recorded place in the state.