Kashmir reels under arctic conditions; many places record season's coldest night

Srinagar: Most places in the Kashmir division experienced the season's coldest night Friday, even as the mercury continued its downward spiral in the valley and Ladakh region, MET officials said.

The minimum temperature across Kashmir, barring Pahalgam, dropped due to a clear sky last night, they said. Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir - recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius. The officials said Kokernag, Qazigund, Kupwara, Gulmarg, Leh and Drass also experienced the season's coldest night Friday. Kokernag town in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 6.6 degrees Celsius – the lowest night temperature for December in over a decade. Qazigund – the gateway town to the valley - recorded the coldest December night in the last four years at 5 degrees Celsius. 

It had registered a low of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius on December 27, 2014, the officials said. The night temperature in Pahalgam, one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, settled at 9.5 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam, which on Thursday experienced the coldest December night in over a decade, was the only place in the valley and Ladakh region where the night temperature increased last night. At minus 11.5 degrees Celsius, the ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the coldest December night in the last three years, the officials said. 

Kupwara in north Kashmir saw the mercury going down to minus 4.5 degrees Celsius. The mercury in Leh town, in the Ladakh region, plummeted eight degrees last night to settle at minus 13.9 degrees Celsius. The officials said Kargil town recorded a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius. Drass, in Kargil district, had a low of minus 19.7 degrees Celsius and was the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir.