After snow, record-breaking cold in Kashmir
Mercury dips as Anantnag registers low of -17.7°C, while tourist resort of Sonamarg shivers at -15.1°C and Gulmarg at -12°C
A day after Kashmir got widespread snowfall, the mercury took a deep dive in the Valley on Friday, breaking records in some parts.
The meteorological centre at Srinagar said that the Sonamarg tourist resort in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district registered at -15.1 °C, lowest in all of the weather monitoring stations. However an independent weather spotter Faizan Arif informed that Larnoo in south Kashmir’s Anantnag was the coldest at -17.7°C.
The MeT said that the ski resort of Gulmarg, which has been witnessing intermittent snowfall since Monday, recorded a minimum temperature of -12°C. Pahalgam registered a low of -11.9°C, breaking a record of the past four years. According to MeT data, the temperature had gone down to -12.6°C in Pahalgam on February 2, 2020.
“It was a cold night with temperatures going several degrees below normal in most of the places. The mercury went 4.4 notches below normal in Gulmarg and 5.8 notches below normal in Pahalgam,” said meteorologist Mohammad Hussain Mir.
The meteorological update said that the gateway to Kashmir in South Kashmir, Qazigund recorded a minimum of -9.4°C, a departure of 7.3 degrees from normal. Kokernag in south Kashmir also recorded a low of -9.4°C.
“Qazigund records its lowest temperature in 16 years. The previous record was of -12.2°C on February 13, 2008,” said Faizan Arif, the valley’s prominent weather forecaster.
The MeT data revealed that Qazigund had recorded its lowest temperature of -16.7°C on February 3, 1967.
The MeT said that Friday will witness generally dry weather with possibility of light snow at isolated higher reaches.
Meteorologist M Hussain Mir said that the minimum temperatures will improve as another western disturbance is approaching J&K from February 3. “There is a possibility of light to moderate snow and rain at many places of J&K on Saturday and Sunday. Then the weather will improve for a week with dry conditions,” he said.
