Clear Skies Bring Colder Nights to Kashmir Gulmarg Freezes at –7°C

Srinagar, Jan 2: Night temperatures across Kashmir have dropped noticeably due to clear skies, even as the Meteorological Department has forecast largely dry weather over the next few days, officials said on Friday.

Several tourist destinations, including Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, along with higher reaches of the Valley, received overnight snowfall on Wednesday. However, the clearing of skies thereafter led to a significant fall in minimum temperatures at most places, officials added.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, woke up to a bright and sunny morning on Friday. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 0.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday night, a sharp drop from 2.2 degrees Celsius the previous night. Despite the fall, the temperature remained 2.5 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average.

Gulmarg continued to be the coldest place in the Valley, with the mercury plunging to minus 7.0 degrees Celsius, about 1.5 degrees lower than the previous night. In south Kashmir, Pahalgam registered a minimum of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, marking a steep decline from minus 0.4 degrees Celsius a night earlier.

Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag saw the temperature settle at minus 0.5 degrees Celsius. In north Kashmir, Kupwara recorded a minimum temperature of 0.8 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir is currently experiencing ‘Chilla-e-Kalan’, the harshest 40-day winter period, during which temperatures often plunge well below freezing and snowfall is most frequent. However, officials noted that the current temperature readings are above normal for this time of the year.

Notably, the plains of the Valley have yet to receive snowfall this winter season.

The Meteorological Department has predicted that weather conditions are likely to remain largely dry across the region until January 5.