‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day severe period of winter, started on Thursday by living to its name as Srinagar recorded a low minus 4.3°C, officials said.
A meteorological department official here told that today’s minimum temperature in Srinagar was 2.8°C below normal for the summer capital of J&K for this time of the year, he said.
The severe cold conditions led to choking of water taps as well as freezing of water bodies at many places in Srinagar and other districts, report said.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 4.0°C, same as on the previous night, he said. The minimum temperature was 2.4°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, the MeT official said.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 5.8°C against minus 6.3°C on the previous night and it was 1.4°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.0°C against minus 3.3°C on the previous night and the temperature was below normal by 1.3°C for the place, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.0°C against minus 3.5°C on the previous night and it was 1.4°C below normal there, the official said.
Gulmarg, the official said, recorded a low of minus 3.0°C against minus 4.4°C on the previous night and the temperature was 1.8°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir.
Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 7.3°C against 6.4°C on previous night, and it was below normal by 1.6°C for the winter capital of J&K. Banihal recorded 7.6°C, Batote 6.0°C and Bhaderwah 2.4°C, he said.
While ‘Chillai-Kalan’ will end on January 30, it does not mean an end to the winter. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
MeT has predicted “generally mainly dry” and cold weather in J&K in next 24 hours.
On December 23, he said, weather is expected to be generally cloudy with possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches. From December 24-28, weather is expected to be generally dry. “Overall there is no significant weather activity till December 28”. (GNS)
