Day temperature settles below normal
Srinagar, Nov 17: The weather remained pleasant though the minimum temperature on Tuesday was one degree to five degree below normal in the valley, where dry weather is predicted during the next 24 hours.
Sun was out though the intensity of heat was low due to cold winds in the valley on Tuesday, when people, including students, were seen basking in the parks and other open places in summer capital, Srinagar.
A Met department spokesman said this evening that weather will remain dry in the region, including Srinagar, during the next 24 hours. “However, dry weather to isolated and scattered light rain and snow is predicted during subsequent two days,” he said.
Leh and border town of Kargil in Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh continued to shiver due to below freezing minimum temperature.
The Met spokesman said Kargil on Srinagar-Leh national highway, which remained closed for the past four days due to snowfall, recorded minus 6.6 degree. “At Leh, the night temperature was minus 6.5 degree,” he said.
Majority water bodies remained frozen in the region, where water is being supplied through tankers to residents. However, in some remote and far flung areas people use spring water which remains cold during summer and warm in winter.
The day temperature improved slightly though it settled 5 degree below normal at world famed ski resort of Gulmarg, which had turned white due to intermittent snowfall from Saturday. The night temperature at the ski resort, about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, settled at minus 5 degree, which is 3.5 degree below normal. The upper reaches, including Seven Springs, Khilanmarg and Affarwat, the highest skiing point connected by Cable Car from base camp, was also covered under a thick blanket of snow.
However, the famed ski resort still awaits tourists, skiers and adventure lovers though authorities are making all out efforts to revive the tourist industry badly affected first after August 5 last year, when the Centre abrogated special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and this year due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Sun also played hide and seek in world famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, though icy cold winds continued. The night temperature at Pahalgam, which received snowfall on Saturday and Sunday, settled at minus 4.3 degree, about 2 degree below normal.
Bright sunshine greeted people in the summer capital, Srinagar though the mercury during the day remained over 3 degree below normal due to ice cold winds. The night temperature in the city settled at 1.8 degree, which is about a degree above normal.
The day temperature at Qazigund, gateway to the valley, Kupwara in North Kashmir and tourist resort of Kokernag settled about 4 degree, 0.5 degree and 2.6 degree below normal, respectively.
