Srinagar, Jan 6:
The night temperature recorded a further dip as all the weather stations in Kashmir continued to record sub-zero temperatures on Friday night. The continued sub-zero temperature has led to the freezing of several water bodies, including parts of the Dal Lake where a thin layer of ice was formed over the surface on Saturday.
The Meteorological Centre said that Srinagar recorded a minimum of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, as compared to the previous night’s temperature which was recorded at minus 3 degrees Celsius.
As per the met sources, Shopian weather station in south Kashmir was the coldest at minus 6.9 degrees Celsius. The other stations in south Kashmir- Pulwama, tourist resort of Pahalgam and Konibal recorded minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, minus 6.4 and minus 6 respectively. The gateway town of Kashmir- Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius and Kokernag saw a low of minus 2.9 degrees Celsius. The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius. Kupwara in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius. Kashmir’s harshest 40 days winter period, “Chilla-i-Kalan”, began on December 21 and the temperature has been below the freezing point at many places.
The met has predicted mainly dry weather till January 14. “There is a possibility of light snow over isolated areas in the higher reaches on January 9,” met director Mukhtar Ahmad said.
This year Kashmir has witnessed a prolonged dry spell and December witnessed largely deficient precipitation. Due to the dry spell, there are reports of forest fires in several areas.Independent weather spotter Faizan Arif said satellite images show that forest fire is active at least at 10 different spots in Jammu and Kashmir currently, most of them being in Kashmir.
