Kashmir gives US cold wave a frosty fight

The mercury continues to be in a free fall in Kashmir and Ladakh divisions as Leh was the coldest recorded place at minus 17.4 degrees Celsius in the state.

On Monday night Leh recorded a plunge of almost 10 degrees from the previous night’s minus 7.9 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET department said in Srinagar.

Temperature in the nearby Kargil town settled at a low of minus 19.0 degrees Celsius, almost six degrees down from minus 13.1 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.

Kargil had recorded the lowest temperature of the season at minus 19.8 degrees Celsius on January 3.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, one degree down from the previous night's minus 2.3 degrees Celsius.

The official said the mercury in the nearby Kargil town settled at a low of minus 19.0 degrees Celsius, almost six degrees down from minus 13.1 degrees Celsius the previous night.

The official said the minimum temperature in Pahalgam, in south Kashmir, decreased by over seven degrees from the previous night’s minus 7.4 degrees Celsius to settle at the season’s lowest of minus  14.7 degrees Celsius last night.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg registered a low of minus 11.6 degrees Celsius, as against the previous night’s minus 9.7 degrees Celsius.

The official said the minimum temperature in Qazigund -- the gateway town to Kashmir valley -- settled at minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius.

The minimum in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at minus 4.6 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night’s minus 1.8 degree Celsius.

The MeT Department has forecast moderate to heavy rainfall or snow over the state for three days from Wednesday.

Image: Kashmiri men try to push their boat through the waters of Anchar Lake after heavy snowfall in Srinagar

Photograph: Danish ismail/Reruters