EARLY TIMES REPORT
Srinagar, Jan 20 : Cold wave conditions to intensify though the weather remains mainly dry in the Kashmir valley, where the world famous ski resort of Gulmarg was coldest with minus 10.4 degree minimum temperature followed by minus 8.5 degree at Pahalgam.
People continue to shiver in Ladakh region where the minimum remained between minus 13 degree to minus 25 degree following fresh snowfall. A Met department spokesman said here this afternoon that there could be light rain or snow at isolated places in the Kashmir valley during the next 24 hours.
However, during the subsequent two days, the weather will be mainly dry but cold. The night temperature will fall again while the day will improve, he said. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir also witnessed a drop of about two notches in the minimum temperature. Against yesterdays 0.2 degrees, it was minus 0.5 degree. The Met spokesman said the sky will remain mainly clear tomorrow when the minimum will drop further and settle at minus 4 degree while the maximum will be 9 degrees, four degrees above normal tomorrow. Gulmarg,a world famous ski resort in north Kashmir, which attracts hundreds of tourists, skiers and other adventure lovers from different parts of the country and abroad, was coldest after the minimum dropped to minus 10.4 degree, more than two notches below normal. It was minus 7.2 degree yesterday, spokesman said.
Health resort of Pahalgam, base camp of Holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, recorded minus 8.5 degree minimum temperature against yesterdays minus 2 degree. There was also drop in the minimum temperature at Qazigund, the gateway of Kashmir, where a large number of trucks, mostly empty, remained stranded for the past few days, Kokernag and Kupwara also witnessed a drop in the temperature. There was no respite from the cold for the people of the Ladakh region, which remained cut off from the rest of the country by road due to closure of the Zojila pass following heavy snowfall since December last year. At Leh it was minus 13.6 degree minimum temperature while at border town of Kargil it was minus 14 degree. However, in the upper reaches and far flung areas the minimum was between minus 13 degree to minus 25 degree. |
