Kashmir shivers in cold winds with Pahalgam among coldest, mercury rose in Jammu

Normal life was affected in the Valley Monday as cold wave tightened its grip, coating many roads in Kashmir and Ladakh region with a thick layer of glistening frost, but the sun shone brightly in Jammu. Pahalgam was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 12.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday night. The minimum temperature plummeted across the Valley on Sunday night, resulting in frozen water bodies and water supply lines at many places, MeT Department officials said.

Owing to a clear night sky and a drop in the minimum temperature, a thick layer of frost had developed on many roads across the Valley because of Friday's snowfall, resulting in inconvenience to the residents due of slippery roads, the officials said. In Srinagar, the minimum temperature settled at minus 4 degrees Celsius on Sunday night followed by 5.3 degrees Celsius in Qazigund.

The nearby Kokernag registered a low of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, Kupwara town in north Kashmir settled at minus 5.9 degrees Celsius, ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded minus 11 degrees Celsius while Leh and Kargil region settled at minus 1.5 degrees Celsius and minus 4 degrees Celsius respectively.

In Jammu, it was a sunny morning on Monday which provided relief from the biting cold weather conditions that prevailed on Sunday night. The night temperature on Sunday was 5.6 degrees Celsius -- a drop of nearly 3 degrees Celsius from Saturday, an official of the Meteorological (MeT) department.

The bright sun appeared on Monday morning providing respite to the people from the biting cold. Despite the cloud cover, the day temperature in the city registered an increase on Sunday and settled at 14.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature on Saturday was 15.6 degrees Celsius.

Cloud cover led to the increase in the night temperature in Jammu, the weatherman said. The MeT department has predicted that the sky will generally be cloudy and the maximum and minimum temperature will be around 16 and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively, in Jammu, while the weather will remain dry in Kashmir till January 10.

(With inputs from agencies.)