Mercury drops across Kashmir after snowfall

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 1: Amid forecast for mainly dry weather, the minimum temperatures dropped at some places in Kashmir today with Pahalgam recording a low of minus 8.9°C.
A Meteorological Department official said that Srinagar recorded a low of 0.4°C against 0.0°C on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature was above normal by 1.1°C for the place.
Qazigund recorded a low of 0.2°C against minus 0.4°C on the previous night and it was 2.3°C above normal for the town.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 8.9°C against minus 4.7°C on the previous night and it was 2.8°C below normal for the tourist resort.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.5°C against minus 0.8°C on the previous night and it was 1.9°C above normal for the place.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 8.2°C against minus 8.4°C on the previous night and it was 0.6°C below normal for the skiing resort.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at minus 1.4°C against minus 0.8°C on the previous night and it was above 0.9°C above normal for the town.
Leh, Kargil and Drass recorded a low of minus 12.0°C, minus 17.6°C and 24.9°C respectively.
While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, Kashmir is under the grip of a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which will end on February 28.
The MeT department has forecast it will be mainly dry in the next 24 hours and isolated very light rain and snow for subsequent two days. It has already ruled out the possibility of any major snowfall in the next nine days.