As Kashmir recorded freezing temperatures on Friday, the Meteorological Department has predicted a rise in minimum temperature by 2 to 3 degrees in the next two days.
The Valley has been in the grip of a severe cold wave for the last two weeks.
In a weather advisory, Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said “due to an approaching Western Disturbance and cloudy weather, night temperatures are likely to witness an increase”. He said ‘colder days and warmer nights’ were expected. “Due to approaching WD, there will be an increase in cloud cover over both J&K and Ladakh. As a result, there will be a rise in minimum temperature by 2-3 degrees and fall in day temperatures by 4 to 5 degrees. We expect warmer nights and colder days from 31st January,” Lotus said.
Meanwhile, the temperatures continued to plummet making this winter one of the most severe in the last several decades. Summer capital Srinagar recorded minus 7.7 degrees Celsius on Thursday night while maximum temperature in Srinagar on Friday plummeted to 2.1 degrees Celsius. Temperature had plummeted to as low as minus 8.4 degrees Celsius on January 14 in Srinagar, making it the coldest recorded night in the last 29 years. The low sub-zero temperatures have been resulting in freezing of water bodies including parts of Dal Lake and supply lines. Meanwhile, ski-resort Gulmarg on Thursday night recorded minus 11.5 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest recorded station in the Valley, said MeT data. The day temperature in Gulmarg on Friday was recorded at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius. Leh recorded a freezing minus 13 while Kargil recorded minus 14.1 degrees on Thursday night, MeT data said.
Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said that weather will remain generally cloudy during February 1 and 4 with a spell of light snowfall during Sunday and Monday at isolated places.
“As of today, we expect weather to remain generally cloudy from 1st-4th February with the possibility of light snowfall at isolated places (especially on higher reaches) of J&K and Kargil district during 31st January and 1-2nd February,” Lotus said. He said another spell of rain or snowfall was likely during February 2 and 3. However, Lotus said “the anticipated Western Disturbance seems to be weaker than the previous ones”. “So we don’t expect heavy precipitation in the plains of J&K and Ladakh. However, heavy snowfall especially on higher reaches of J&K can’t be ruled out either especially on 3rd February,” Lotus said.