Srinagar, Dec 20: A day ahead of the Chillai Kalan that begins on Wednesday, Kashmir and Ladakh continue to record sub-zero temperatures even as the Meteorological Department predicted dry weather during the next 24 hours.
Chillai Kalan is a period of 40-day harsh winter in Kashmir that starts from December 21 and continues till January 29.
During this period, the night temperatures in Kashmir and Ladakh usually remain below the freezing point.
A 20-day-long ‘Chillai Khurd’ and 10-day-long ‘Chillai Bacha’ follow the bone-chilling cold period of Chillai Kalan.
The MeT officials said that on Tuesday, the summer capital Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius against the previous night’s minus 3.1 degrees Celsius, 1.9 degrees Celsius below normal.
They said that in the cold desert Ladakh, Leh recorded a low of minus 11.8 degrees Celsius.
“The weather is expected to be dry during the next 24 hours,” the MeT officials said. “As per latest model analysis, weather is mostly likely to be cloudy with chances of light to moderate rain and snow over isolated places of Jammu to scattered places of Kashmir specifically over middle and higher reaches during the last few days of 2022.”
They said ski-resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla recorded a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius against minus 2.5 degrees Celsius the previous night, 0.8 degrees Celsius above normal.
The MeT officials said Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius against minus 3.2 degrees Celsius the previous night, 2 degrees Celsius below normal.
They said that south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort recorded a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius against minus 4.8 degrees Celsius the previous night, 1 degrees Celsius below normal.
The MeT officials said that another south Kashmir resort Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, the same as the previous night, 0.1 degree Celsius below normal.
They said that in north Kashmir’s Kupwara town, the mercury settled at minus 3.9 degrees Celsius against minus 3.5 degrees Celsius the previous night, 1.5 degrees Celsius below normal.
The MeT officials said that the winter capital Jammu recorded a low of 6.7 degrees Celsius against 7.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, 2.2 degrees Celsius below normal.
They said that Banihal recorded a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, below normal by 2.7 degrees Celsius, Batote 2.1 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees Celsius below normal, Katra 7.5 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degree Celsius below normal, and Bhaderwah 0.3 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degrees Celsius below normal.