At minus 6, Srinagar records coldest night of season, water supply lines freeze

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Mercury continued to plunge in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday with Srinagar recording the coldest night of the season so far, resulting in freezing of water supply lines as well as the fringes of several water bodies, officials said.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius on Friday night – down by 2.2 degrees from the previous night's minus 3.8 degrees Celsius.

This was the coldest night of the season so far in the city and the minimum was 4.5 degrees below the normal for this part of the season, they said.

Gulmarg resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius. The resort was the coldest recorded place in the valley.

Officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 8.3 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Drass town of Ladakh recorded minus 20.3 and Leh minus 15.3 as the night's lowest temperature, the official added.

The minimum temperature in Katra was 2.8 degrees, Batote minus 1.1, Banihal minus 1.2 and Bhaderwah minus 2.9.

The mercury in Kupwara in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 6.1 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag also recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

The coldwave conditions led to freezing of water supply lines in many areas of the valley as well as the fringes of several water bodies, they said.

The weatherman has forecast colder nights over the next couple of days as further fall in the minimum temperature is expected.

There is also a possibility of a white Christmas as widespread moderate to heavy snowfall is most likely to occur from December 23-25. 

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