SRINAGAR: The minimum temperatures across Kashmir barring the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg settled above the season’s average on Friday as the weather improved at most places providing relief to the people from the intense cold wave conditions, officials said.
All weather stations in the Kashmir valley except Gulmarg experienced above normal night temperatures on Thursday night much to the relief of the residents, the officials said. They said Srinagar city — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir — recorded a low of 1 degree Celsius last night – up from the previous night’s 0.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum was 1.4 degrees above the normal for this time of the season, the officials said. On Thursday, the night temperature in the city settled above the freezing point for the first time in over a month. Qazigund – the gateway town to the valley – recorded a minimum of minus 0.8 degrees Celsius – same as the previous night, the officials said, adding it was 0.7 degrees above the normal.
Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature last night was 2.6 degrees above the normal. The minimum temperature at Gulmarg, in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, settled at minus 9.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday night – down from minus 6.4 degrees Celsius the previous night. The night temperature was 2.7 degrees below the normal and the resort was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir. Gulmarg also experienced light snowfall during the night, the officials said. Kupwara town, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of 0.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature at Kokernag, in the south, was minus 1.3 degrees Celsius.
The Met office has said that the weather is expected to stay mainly dry for the next one week, but the minimum temperature is likely to fall by two to three degrees.
