SRINAGAR: Unabated cold wave continued in Kashmir as temperatures dipped further on Friday with Srinagar resulting in freezing of water taps.
Srinagar recorded season’s lowest minimum temperatures at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius.
“It was the season’s coldest night so far,” said Meteorological department deputy director Mukhtar Ahmad.
According to him, coldest ever night in Srinagar was in 1987 when temperatures dipped to minus 11. Last year it had gone down to minus 11 degrees.
“The temperature is likely to to dip further in coming days. From December 30 onwards, there is likeliness of moderate snowfall. The overall improvement will be seen from January 2 onwards,” he added.
The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded the low of minus 9.5 degrees Celsius last night – up from the previous night’s minus 11.2 degrees Celsius, he said.
The night temperature at Pahalgam resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 12.0 degrees Celsius as against minus 12.7 degrees Celsius yesterday, he said.
Pahalgam, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, was the coldest recorded place in the valley, he added.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ – the 40-day harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.

Reader correspondent