Kashmir will get the next spell of snow with the onset of Chillai Kalan, the harsh 40-day winter period starting on December 21.
Jammu and Kashmir continues to be under the influence of an intense cold wave for the last three nights with the summer capital Srinagar recording the lowest temperature of the season on Friday night, which was also the second coldest December night in the past one decade.
The mercury dipped to minus 6.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, said a meteorological department officer.
Tourist resort of Gulmarg witnessed a temperature of 9.9 degree Celsius. Gulmarg had already four spells of snow this winter and the winter games have already begun on the icy slopes of the resort. The cold wave has left water taps frozen across Kashmir.
“Lowest minimum temperatures in the last 10 years in the month of December were -7.7 °c on December 25,2018, -6.6 °c on December 18, 2020, -6.5°c on Dec 21, 2016 and Dec 30, 2019 and -6.4 °c on December 17 ,2020,” said deputy director of Srinagar based meteorological department, Mukhtar Ahmad.
Kashmir will get the next spell of snow with the onset of Chillai Kalan, the harsh 40-day winter period starting on December 21.
Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21(Chillai Kalan) followed by 20 more days that are less intense (Chillai Khurd) and lastly 10 days of mild cold (Chille Bache).
The night temperatures continued to drop in most places of Kashmir.
Jammu was also cold at 3.3 degrees. Leh in the Union Territory of Ladakh recorded a low of minus 16.4 degrees Celsius, while Kargil recorded a low of minus 21.1 degrees C and Drass, the second coldest place in the world, observed minus 29.0 degrees C temperature.
The night temperatures started dipping in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday after snowfall over the weekend.
Dal Lake freezes due to cold wave, ‘memorable sight’ say tourists
With not enough snowfall this season, a cold wave has gripped the plains of Kashmir valley leading to the freezing of Dal Lake at the beginning of the season.
The locals of the valley said that they are witnessing a cold wave of such severity after ages.
“I was very young when the whole lake froze, and this year we are approaching the same position. There wasn’t much snowfall in the city. The cold is excruciating this year. We are hoping that there will be some snowfall soon,” said a local.
Tourists who came to visit the valley called the frozen lake the highlight of their trip.
A tourist from Jharkhand said that frozen Dal Lake was a memorable sight for him, and he would cherish the memory for a long time.
“I came here for the first time. We came to the Vaishno Devi shrine and decided to extend our trip to Srinagar. The detour was a good decision as I have never seen a frozen lake. I will always remember this sight. We are enjoying our trip a lot, but it is very cold here,” he said.
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