Gulmarg, Pahalgam in J&K experience season's coldest night

The new year arrived in Kashmir on a freezing note as the famous tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam experienced the coldest night of the season so far, officials said on Sunday. Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius -– the lowest there so far this season.

The resort was also the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.

The minimum in Gulmarg, the famous ski resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, was minus 8.2 degrees Celsius - the season's lowest, officials said.

The MeT office has forecast a dry weather over the next few days for the region leading to colder nights and slightly warmer days.

The mercury in Srinagar settled above the freezing point for the second consecutive night. The city registered a low of 0.5 degree Celsius.

Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley, was another place where the mercury settled above the freezing point last night. It registered a low of 0.3 degrees Celsius.

In Kupwara, a frontier district, the minimum temperature settled at minus 4.5 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.5 degree Celsius, the officials said.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of Chilla-i-Kalan, the 40-day harshest weather period when the chances of snowfall are maximum and most frequent.

'Chilla-i-Kalan' begins on December 21 and ends on January 30.

The cold wave continues even after that with a 20-day-long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day-long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold) following it.

Most areas of the valley received snowfall on Thursday.