Intense Cold In Northern States On Christmas, Water Supply Lines Freeze In Srinagar

The minimum temperature across Kashmir and Ladakh remained several degrees below the freezing point. In Srinagar, the extreme cold led to freezing of water supply lines at several places. The ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 9.0 deg C. The night temperature at Pahalgam resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, settled at 11.4 deg C. Pahalgam, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, was the coldest recorded place in the valley, the weather office said. Qazigund- the gateway town to the valley – in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 9.4 deg C. Kokernag town, also in the south, recorded a low of minus 6.7 deg C, while Kupwara in the north, registered the minimum of minus 5.6 deg C.

Leh in the Union Territory of Ladakh recorded a low of minus 17.8 degrees Celsius. The ‘Chillai-Kalan’ period in Kashmir began on December 21 and ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that. The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). In Rajasthan, Pilani, Churu, Jaisalmer and Ganganagar recorded minimum temperatures of 4.3 deg C, 4.5 deg C, 5.4 deg C and 5.8 deg C, respectively. The night temperature in Bikaner, Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Dabok were 6.1 deg C, 7.1 deg C, 9.5 deg C, 10.2 deg C and 12.2 deg C, respectively. The weather conditions are likely to remain the same till Friday.

The weather office predicted fresh snowfall and rains in some parts of Himachal Pradesh on the last day of the year. On Wednesday, the weather remained dry and cold with dense fog in the plains and lower hills. The maximum and minimum temperatures settled below normal limits. Kalpa in Kinnaur district registered a low of minus 4.6 deg C, while Manali in Kullu and Kufri in Shimla district shivered at minus 2.6 and minus 1 deg C respectively. The minimum temperatures in Dalhousie and Shimla were 2.2 and 2.3 deg C respectively.

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