Extreme cold wave hits parts of Kashmir
Photo by Imtiyaz Gulzar
Srinagar : A day after snowfall, an extreme cold wave hit several parts of Kashmir, with Larnoo in Anantnag district recording minus 17.7 degrees Celsius.
Officials said the night temperature witnessed a record drop in February all across the Kashmir valley on Friday.
The tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam recorded lows of -12.0°C and -11.9°C, respectively, after receiving snowfall during the past few days, triggering an extreme cold wave, officials said.
Meteorological Centre Srinagar said that the minimum temperature was 4.4°C below normal of -7.6°C at the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Friday.
This was the second-lowest minimum temperature recorded at Gulmarg during February in the past 2 years. On February 12, 2023, the minimum temperature at Gulmarg was recorded at -13.5°C.
Gulmarg also received 10.8 mm of rainfall and 1.2 cm of snowfall during the past 24 hours.
Similarly, the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in South Kashmir witnessed a record low of below 5.8°C against the normal of -6.1°C on Friday. The earlier minimum temperature recorded at Pahalgam was -10.3 °C on February 13, 2023.
It also received 12.2mm of rainfall and 8.5cm of snowfall during the past 24 hours.
Kashmir weather, an independent forecaster, said that Larnoo recorded a low of -17.7°C, Shopian -10.7°C, Kulgam -9.3°C, and Anantnag -8.5°C in south Kashmir, and Sonamarg in Ganderbal district had a low of -15.1°C on Friday.
Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu National High also witnessed the lowest temperature in the last 16 years at -9.4°C on Friday. The earlier lowest temperature was recorded at -12.2°C on February 13, 2008.
Qazigund also received 17.8 mm of rainfall and 14.0cm of snowfall during the past 24 hours.
Kokernag in south Kashmir also witnessed a record low of -9.4°C on Friday. The earlier lowest minimum temperature at the picnic spot was recorded at -4.6°C on February 13, 2023. It also received 17.1mm of rainfall and 12.2cm of snowfall during the past 24 hours.
Kupwara had a low of -4.4°C, and it was -2.1°C below normal for the frontier Kashmir district on Friday. It also received 0.6mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours.
Srinagar recorded a low of -0.3°C, and it was 0.4°C above normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir during this period of the season. Srinagar also received 0.4mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours, the MeT office said.
The MeT forecast weather will generally remain dry with the possibility of very light snow at isolated higher reaches today, while from February 3–4, there is a possibility of light to moderate snow or rain (Jammu) at many places in J&K, while the weather will generally remain dry from February 5 to 12.