Kashmir Valley reels under freezing night temperature

Srinagar: Kashmir continued to reel under freezing night temperature on Friday even as there was a marginal increase in the minimum temperature in Srinagar city and Gulmarg tourist resort, the meteorological department said.Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir – and the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir were the only places in the Valley where the night temperature improved Thursday night, it said.According to MeT, all the other weather stations across the Valley registered a further decrease in the minimum temperature.Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.0 degrees Celsius, up from the previous night’s minus 6.4 degrees Celsius which was the coldest night of the season.The mercury in Gulmarg settled at a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius, up from minus 11.0 degrees Celsius. The resort continued to be the coldest recorded place in the Union territory.Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, MeT officials said.They said Qazigund – the gateway town to the Valley – recorded the minimum temperature of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in the north, registered a low of minus 6.3 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, in the south, minus 5.4 degrees Celsius.The MeT office said while no major snowfall is expected till the end of this month in the UT, there is a possibility of light to moderate snowfall during December 21-22 at isolated places of Kashmir.