- Sonamarg shivers at minus 9.8°C, cold wave intensifies across Kashmir
Srinagar, Jan 8: Severe cold conditions intensified across Kashmir on Thursday as most parts of the Valley recorded a sharp dip in night temperatures, with several locations experiencing the coldest night of the season so far. The prolonged cold spell has led to the freezing of the fringes of multiple water bodies, including the iconic Dal Lake in Srinagar.
Officials said Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius on Wednesday night, a steep fall of 3.5 degrees compared to the previous night’s minus 1.6 degrees Celsius. This marked the coldest night of the season in the city, with temperatures dropping about 3.2 degrees below the seasonal average.
The cold wave was more intense in higher reaches and tourist destinations. Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district emerged as the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir, recording a bone-chilling minus 9.8 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg, the famed ski resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, registered a low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, down from minus 7.6 degrees Celsius a night earlier, making it the coldest night of the winter so far at the resort.
In south Kashmir, Pahalgam also witnessed the season’s coldest night, with the mercury settling at minus 8.6 degrees Celsius, compared to minus 7.2 degrees Celsius the previous night. Qazigund, known as the gateway town of the Valley, saw the temperature plunge by more than five degrees to record a minimum of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, the lowest this winter.
Other parts of the Valley also remained in the grip of intense cold. Kokernag recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara in north Kashmir shivered at minus 5.1 degrees Celsius, officials said.
Kashmir is currently observing ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, the harshest 40-day phase of winter, during which temperatures frequently fall several degrees below the freezing point and the likelihood of snowfall remains high. The period, which began on December 21, will continue until January 30.
Despite the intense cold, the plains of the Kashmir Valley have not witnessed any snowfall so far this season, adding to concerns over prolonged dry conditions. The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the weather is likely to remain dry but cloudy until January 20. It has also warned that night temperatures are expected to witness a further significant drop across the Valley until January 10, indicating that the cold spell is likely to persist in the coming days.