Min temp rises in Valley, while Leh shivers at -12.2 deg C

SRINAGAR: The twin towns of Leh and Kargil in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir shivered at around minus 12 degrees Celsius today even as there was improvement in the minimum temperature at most places in the Valley.

Leh experienced the coldest night of the season so far as the mercury settling at minus 12.2 degrees Celsius against the previous night's low of minus 12. 1 degrees Celsius, a MET department official said.

The night temperature in Leh has decreased by more than seven degrees Celsius over the last two days and the town continues to be the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding the nearby Kargil town also shivered at minus 12.1 degrees Celsius.

Qazigund and Kokernag - both in south Kashmir - were the other places in Kashmir division where the night temperature decreased from the previous night, the official said.

Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir Valley - registered a low of minus 0. 8 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night's 0.8 degrees Celsius, he said.

While the mercury in Kokernag settled at a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, Srinagar - the summer capital of the state - recorded a low of 2. 0 degrees Celsius - up by nearly three degrees from minus 0.8 degree Celsius the previous night.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, registered an increase of over eight degree Celsius in the night temperature as the minimum settled at minus 1 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night's minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT official said.

Mercury in the other famous tourist resort of Pahalgam in South Kashmir - which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra - settled at minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, he said.

The night temperatures also increased in Kupwara as the mercury there settled at minus 0. 8 degree Celsius as against minus 2.5 degrees Celsius.

There is possibility of isolated rains over two days from Wednesday, the MET office stated.