Kashmir chills before 'Chillai-Kalan,' Srinagar sees season's coldest night

Srinagar, Dec 20 (PTI) A day before the harshest winter period in Kashmir, 'Chillai Kalan', temperature plunged several degrees below freezing point across the valley, with Srinagar witnessing its coldest night of the season so far, officials said on Friday.

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, slightly down from minus 6 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.

The night temperature on Thursday was 4.2 degrees below the season's normal, they said.

The biting cold conditions led to the freezing of water supply lines in many areas and the fringes of water bodies, including the Dal Lake, they added.

The prolonged dry spell in the city and other areas in the plains has exacerbated ailments like cough and common cold, the officials said.

In South Kashmir, Pahalgam, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night's minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, the weather office said.

It said Gulmarg, a tourist spot popular for skiing, logged a minimum of minus 6 degrees Celsius, a degree down from the previous night.

A hamlet on the outskirts of Pampore town, Konibal, was the coldest weather station in the valley as the minimum settled at the low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, the office said.

The minimum temperature in Qazigund -- the gateway to Kashmir -- was minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, minus 6.5 degrees Celsius in Kupwara in north Kashmir and minus 5.8 degrees in Kokernag of south Kashmir minus, the weather department said.

The meteorological department has predicted a mainly dry weather till December 26 with a possibility of light snowfall in higher reaches of the valley on the night of December 21-22.

It said light snow over few higher reaches is also possible from the night of December 27 to the morning of December 28.

However, the minimum temperature is likely to fall further in the valley and there will be a cold wave at isolated to scattered places during the next few days, the department said.

'Chillai-Kalan'“, the harshest 40-day winter period in Kashmir, begins on Saturday. During this period the chances of snowfall are most frequent and the temperature drops considerably.

It ends on January 31 next year, but the cold wave continues with a 20-day long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold). PTI