Gulmarg gets snow, shivers at -6°C

The Gulmarg resort in north Kashmir has received season’s first snowfall with the night temperature there falling six degrees below the freezing point even as rest of the region had a respite from shivering cold.

Gulmarg had received two inches of snow till morning when the amount of fall was last recorded, an official of the state Meteorological department said. The snow was falling intermittently through the day at Gulmarg. This is the first snowfall in the meadows of Gulmarg, a famed tourist resort where snow had fallen on the nearby mountains earlier in the month.

The resort also witnessed a freezing night with minimum temperature falling to minus 6 degrees Celsius, the official said. The day temperature in Gulmarg was recorded at 6 degrees Celsius.

Apart from Gulmarg, only Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir had a freezing night with temperature falling to minus 2 degrees Celsius.

In the city here, residents received a respite from shivering cold as the minimum temperature remained stuck at 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Mercury around the city has shown a considerable rise in the past 48 hours from the low of minus 1 degree which was recorded earlier last week.

The day temperature in the city was recorded at 14.8 degrees Celsius, which is nearly a degree down from the normal temperature for this time of the year, the official said.

In Leh town of remote Ladakh region, mercury fell to minus 7 degrees Celsius overnight and the day temperature there was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius.

In the adjoining Kargil district in Ladakh region, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, the official said. The maximum temperature in Kargil was recorded at 8.8 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Ladakh region usually hovers many degrees below the freezing point in winter months, sometimes falling down to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. The region remains cut off from the rest of the state as heavy snow along the Srinagar-Leh road shuts the access to the mountainous Ladakh.

The minimum temperature in frontier Kupwara town in north Kashmir was recorded 2.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature in the south Kashmir’s Qazigund town was recorded at a freezing 4 degrees Celsius, the official said.

The Kashmir valley is gearing up for a harsh winter which is set to officially begin next month. People have already switched to their winter wear to escape the shivering evening cold.

The state Meteorological department has forecast dry weather over the region for the next 24 hours.

RESPITE FOR SRINAGAR RESIDENTS

While Gulmarg received two inches of snow till morning when the amount of fall was last recorded, Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir had a freezing night with temperature falling to minus 2 degrees Celsius. Residents of Srinagar received a respite from shivering cold as the minimum temperature remained stuck at 4.2 degrees Celsius.

(TNS)