After witnessing an improvement in the last three days, temperatures across Kashmir witnessed a fall on Saturday night. The mercury plummeted by several degrees across the Valley owing to a clear sky except in Gulmarg which was the only place where the night temperature increased on Saturday night.
There was decline in the temperature by several degrees in some places across all the weather stations barring Gulmarg, the MeT officials said.
Srinagar recorded minus 3.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, almost four degrees down from 1 degree Celsius recorded on Friday night. The summer capital had recorded minus 8.8 degrees Celsius on last night of Chilai Kalan on January 30, registering as the coldest recorded night of the last 30 years in Srinagar.
Qazigund , the gateway town to the Valley, recorded a minimum of minus 6.3 degrees Celsius, down from minus 3.2 degrees Celsius recorded on Friday night.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 7.5 degrees Celsius, down from minus 6.3 degrees Celsius recorded on Friday night.
The minimum temperature at Gulmarg in Baramulla district, settled at minus 6.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, up from minus 10.4 degrees Celsius recorded on Friday night.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag, in south Kashmir recorded minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.
The MeT Department has said the weather is expected to stay mainly dry for the next one week and there would be a significant increase in the day temperature.
The Valley recently witnessed the harshest Chilai Kalan in the last 30 years during which low temperatures caused freezing of water bodies including the Dal Lake.
Heavy snowfall during January 4 and 6 had cut off the Valley from the rest of the world for five days after both air and surface traffic had been affected. The 40-day Chilai Kalan which ended last Saturday is followed by the 20-day ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) from January 30 to February 19 and later a 10-day ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) from February 20 to March 1.
It may be remembered that after having recorded freezing temperatures for 55 days, summer capital Srinagar witnessed a sharp increase in night temperature. As per Meteorological Department data, minimum temperature had dropped below the freezing point on December 12, 2020 in Srinagar. It remained below the freezing point for consecutive 55 days and saw a rise on last Wednesday night as it recorded above sub-zero range for the first time in 7 weeks, a MeT official said.