Cold grips Kashmir

Srinagar, Dec 2: Kashmir continues to experience cold weather with sub-zero night temperatures, though a slight improvement has been noted in recent days.The Valley is bracing for a weak Western Disturbance (WD), which is expected to bring light snowfall and rain, primarily in the higher reaches and scattered areas, from Monday night until Tuesday morning.The Meteorological (MeT) Department officials said that a weak WD will likely affect Kashmir, potentially causing light rain and snow over higher reaches and scattered areas from late Monday evening to Tuesday morning.They said dry weather is expected to prevail afterwards until December 7.On December 8, there is a possibility of another wet spell with the possibility of light rain and light snow over the higher reaches and at isolated places, the MeT office said.The weather will remain dry hereafter till December 12.Kashmir continued to shiver even as the day and night temperatures slightly improved but stayed below normal at most places, with the Gulmarg emerging as the coldest place at minus 2.9 degrees Celsius and Pahalgam at 2.3 degrees Celsius on Monday.The minimum temperature recorded during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday in Srinagar improved and settled at minus 0.8 degrees Celsius against the minus 1.3 degrees Celsius the previous night.This was 0.4 degrees Celsius above normal for Srinagar during this time of the season.Srinagar’s Dal Lake and other parts were also engulfed with the fog, disrupting normal activities.Qazigund recorded a low of minus 1.4 degrees Celsius against minus 1.8 degrees Celsius a day ago, and this was 0.2 degrees Celsius below normal for the gateway of Kashmir.The minimum temperature at Pahalgam dipped to minus 2.3 degrees Celsius against the minus 0.3 degrees Celsius on Sunday.This was still 1 degree Celsius above normal for the famous tourist destination in south Kashmir.The Gulmarg ski resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district emerged as the coldest place, with the mercury settling at minus 2.9 degrees Celsius on Monday against the minus 2.6 degrees Celsius recorded the previous night.This was still 0.2 degrees Celsius above normal for the valley of meadows during this period of the season.Kokernag recorded a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius against the 0.4 degrees Celsius recorded the previous day, and it was 0.8 degrees Celsius above normal for the picnic spot of south Kashmir.The night temperature in the frontier Kupwara district dipped by a notch and settled at minus 0.6 degrees Celsius on Monday against the minus 0.5 degrees Celsius a day ago, and this was 1.1 degrees Celsius above normal for the border area during this period of the season, the MeT office said.