Srinagar, Jan 10 : Parts of Kashmir including Srinagar received very light snowfall overnight even as mercury remained blow sub-zero levels with Gulmarg remaining coldest in the Valley.
A meteorological department official here told that Srinagar received 2.5cm of fresh snowfall in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours.
Qazigund, the gate town of Kashmir, received 0.7cm of fresh snowfall during the time. The famous tourist destinations of Pahalgam and Gulmarg along with Kokernag and Kupwara stations recorded no snowfall during the time, the official added.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures were slightly up from the previous night across the Valley barring Pahalgam even as they remained below sub-zero level. Gulmarg, the world-famous skiing resort, recorded a low of minus 7.8 against minus 10.0°C on the earlier night while Srinagar recorded a minimum of minus 2.6° against minus 4.0°C on the previous night.
The mercury settled at minus 5.9 °C in Pahalgam against minus 5.1°C on the previous night. Qazigund recorded a low of minus 0.4°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night. Against minus 1.7°C on the previous night in Kupwara, the mercury settled at minus 1.5 °C in the north Kashmir district, the official said.
Kashmir is in the middle Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day winter period which commenced on December 21 and ends on January 31. The period is considered the harshest of the winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum.
The cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
The Weatherman has forecast mainly “dry weather” in the next 24 hours.