Respite from cold conditions in Kashmir as the minimum temperature settles above the freezing point

SRINAGAR: Residents of South Kashmir including Ladakh region experienced slight respite from the cold wave as the minimum temperature in Kokernag town here settled above the freezing point for the first time in over 20 days today, the MET department said.

The department here also predicted heavy rains or snow next week.

"The mercury in Kokernag resort, in south Kashmir, settled at a low of 0.2 degree Celsius - slightly up from minus 0.2 degree Celsius the previous night," a MET Department spokesman said here.

The mercury in the town settled above the freezing point for the first time in 23 days, he said.

He said Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu national highway recorded a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius - over two degrees up from minus 1.2 degrees Celsius yesterday and the night temperature in the town went above the freezing point for the first time in 10 days.

He said the minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was minus 0.8 degree Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's minus 1.2 degrees Celsius.

Pahalgam hill resort in south, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, was the coldest recorded place in Kashmir with a minimum of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, up by 1.5 degrees from the previous night's minus 6.9 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.

The mercury in north Kashmir's famous ski -resort of Gulmarg settled at minus 3.8 degrees Celsius compared to minus 5.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, he said.

Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, compared to the previous night's minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.