{"id":8288,"date":"2016-12-24T10:02:58","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T04:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kashmir.today\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2016-12-24T10:02:58","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T04:32:58","slug":"cold-wave-grips-kashmir-weatherman-predicts-no-respite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=8288","title":{"rendered":"Cold wave grips Kashmir, but weatherman predicts no respite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Srinagar:<\/strong> Cold wave tightened its grip across Kashmir as minimum temperature dropped at most places in the Valley, with Srinagar recording a low of minus 5.5 degree Celsius last night, officials said on Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Friday\u2014the third day of 40-day-long harshest winter period called \u2018Chillai-Kalan\u2019\u2014the Dal Lake in Srinagar and most other water bodies in the Valley were seen partially frozen. \u201cThe maximum temperature recorded in Srinagar on Friday was 8.1 degree Celsius while the minimum was minus 5.5 degree Celsius,\u201d a Metrological department official here told Greater Kashmir.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

He said Qazigund and Pahalgam froze at minus 4.8 degree Celsius, Kupwara at minus 5.4 degree Celsius, Kokernag at minus 3.3 degree Celsius and Gulmarg at 2.2 degree Celsius.<\/em><\/p>\n

He however said there was overall improvement in night temperatures in Jammu region.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst Thursday\u2019s 5.7 degree Celsius, the lowest night temperature rose to 9 degree Celsius in Jammu on Friday,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe minimum temperatures throughout Kashmir and Ladakh region remained several notches below the freezing point despite partially cloudy weather,\u201d the MeT official said.<\/em><\/div>\n

He said weather is likely to remain cloudy and dry in the state during next 24 hours and \u201cthis could bring some improvement in night temperatures.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is however possibility of light to moderate rains and snowfall at isolated places across the state,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

Leh was the coldest town in the state at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kashmir is facing a major power crisis this winter, with Srinagar city worst-hit where unscheduled power cuts have grown severe over the past one month, giving tough time to people, especially during mornings and evenings.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reports said some villages too are reeling under darkness as they are supplied with only few hours of power.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, reports said people across Kashmir Friday made special prayers for rains and snowfall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kashmir is presently witnessing longest dry spell in a decade.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSnow during Chillai Kalan freezes and lasts longer. It is this snow that adds to glaciers of Kashmir and replenishes perennial reservoirs that feed rivers, streams and lakes in Kashmir during summer months. Any snowfall after Chillai-Kalan does not last long,\u201d said an official.<\/em><\/p>\n

In December, the mean number of rainy days in Kashmir is 3.5 while mean maximum temperature is 8.8 degree Celsius and mean minimum temperature is minus 1.6 degree Celsius.<\/em><\/p>\n

Official data reveals that highest maximum temperature recorded in December is 16.6 degree Celsius, in 2009.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chillai-Kalan begins from December 21 and ends on January 31 next year. During this period, chances of snowfall are frequent and maximum. Chillai-Kalan is followed by a 20-day long Chillai-Khurd that occurs between January 31 and February 19 and a 10-day long Chillai-Bachha which is from February 20 to March 2.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar: Cold wave tightened its grip across Kashmir as minimum temperature dropped at most places in the Valley, with Srinagar recording a low of minus 5.5 degree Celsius last night, officials said on Friday. On Friday\u2014the third day of 40-day-long harshest winter period called \u2018Chillai-Kalan\u2019\u2014the Dal Lake in Srinagar and most other water bodies in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}