Kashmir in grip of intense cold wave, Srinagar records -3.4°C

Kashmir is in the grip of intense cold wave as the minimum temperature stayed several degrees below freezing point, officials said here on Monday.

Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.4°C, same as the previous night. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 4°C, slightly down from the night before.

Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 5°C which was marginally below the previous night’s minus 4.8°C.

Konibal, a sleepy hamlet on the outskirts of Pampore town, was the coldest place in the Valley as mercury dipped to minus 6°C.

The minimum temperature in Qazigund — the gateway to Kashmir — was minus 4°C, Kupwara in north Kashmir minus 4.2°C, and Kokernag in south Kashmir minus 3.9°C.

The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather till December 26 with possibility of light snowfall in higher reaches of the Valley on the night of December 21-22.

However, the minimum temperature is forecast to fall further in the Valley and there will be a cold wave over many stations during the next three days, it said.