*Jammu under grip of fog, cold wave
Fayaz Bukhari /Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Jan 8: Kashmir is reeling under intense cold wave conditions with several places including Srinagar city recording season’s coldest night leading to freezing of water tapes and fringes of the water bodies including famous Dal lake, the night temperature in Jammu has also dropped.
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The bone-chilling cold conditions led to the freezing of the fringes of several water bodies, including the famous Dal lake here.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius last night, down 3.5 degrees from minus 1.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.
It was the season’s coldest night in the city so far, and the minimum temperature was 3.2 degrees below the season’s normal.
The tourist resort of Sonamarg in Ganderbal district was the coldest recorded place in the region as it shivered at a low of minus 9.8 degrees Celsius.
The night temperature in Gulmarg in Baramulla district settled at a low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, down from minus 7.6 degrees Celsius. It was the lowest night temperature at the resort so far this winter.
At the tourist resort of Pahalgam, the minimum settled at a low of minus 8.6 degrees Celsius, down from minus 7.2 degrees Celsius the previous night. It was also the coldest night of the season at the resort.
The minimum temperature in Qazigund went down by over five degrees to record a minimum of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, the season’s coldest.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius and Kupwara minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.
Kashmir valley is currently in the midst of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, a 40-day period of extreme cold, during which night temperatures often drop several degrees below the freezing point and chances of snowfall are the highest.
‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, which began on December 21 last year, ends on January 30. The plains of the Valley have not received any snowfall so far this season and upper reaches had only light snowfall so far.
The India Meteorological Department has said the weather is likely to remain dry but cloudy till January 20. It said the night temperatures would witness a significant fall in the valley and many parts of Jammu till January 10.
However, day temperatures across the region stayed several notches as it was a sunny day in Kashmir.
Srinagar recorded a maximum of 11.1 degree Celsius, Qazigund 10.5 degree Celsius, Pahalgam 7.2 degree Celsius, Kupwara 10.9 degree Celsius, Kokernag of 8.6 degree Celsius and Gulmarg 2.6 degree Celsius. It was 4.5 degree Celsius, 4.3 degree Celsius, 2.5 degree Celsius, 3.9 degree Celsius, 3.6 degree Celsius and 1.9 degree Celsius above normal respectively for these places.
Meanwhile, Jammu continued to be under the grip of cold wave, where as, moderate to thick fog enveloped many plain areas of the region since last night. The night temperature in Jammu and other major towns have experienced sharp fall in night temperature. The fog also hit a few flights and train operation, besides smooth movement of vehicles during past 24 hours in Jammu region.
The winter capital city recorded a minimum temperature of 7.1 degree Celsius while Katra Mata Vaishnodevi had 4.1 degree C today. The day temperature however, remained 13.5 deg C in Jammu, which is 3.7 deg below normal.
Tourist destination of Bhaderwah in Jammu region recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.4 degree Celsius and maximum 13.5 deg C, equivalent to Jammu’s day temperature.
Batote recorded a minimum temperature of 2.7 degrees, Banihal 3.7 degC, Doda 1.4 deg C, Kishtwar 1.5 deg, Rajouri minus 1.0 deg C, Poonch 2.1 deg, Udhampur 2.0 deg C, Ramban 3.8 deg, Samba 5.0 deg C while Reasi town registered 5.9 deg night temperature today.
A MeT official said moderate to dense fog would continue to envelop many plain areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua till January 11 and from Jan 12 onwards, there will be great relief from foggy weather conditions in the region. In Kashmir no significant weather activity will be observed till January 14, but it may remain partly cloudy weather up to January 15 in the J&K region. But on January 16 and 17 there is possibility of light rain/ snow on the higher reaches/isolated places of Kashmir Division, he added.
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