SRINAGAR: After a day’s respite, the residents of Kashmir and Ladakh regions in Jammu and Kashmir again witnessed a drop in the night temperature with Leh being the coldest place at minus 12 degrees Celsius.
Notwithstanding the freezing night temperatures, tourists in “good numbers” have started flocking the Valley to celebrate the New Year as authorities have decked up the famous hill resorts to welcome the revellers.
The winter sun, which appeared in the morning after remaining behind the clouds for the last couple of days, provided much needed relief to the people from the bone chilling cold.
The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 2.7 degrees Celsius against yesterday’s minus of 0.9 degrees Celsius. It was minus 3.2 degrees Celsius a day earlier, a MET office spokesman said.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg, a major attraction for tourists visiting the Valley during winter, was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius against yesterday’s minus 7.6 degrees Celsius.
However, Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state as the mercury plummeted and settled at minus 12.Degrees Celsius. The town in frontier region of Ladakh had recorded a low of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Kargil, also in the cold desert of Ladakh, recorded a minimum of minus 11 degrees Celsius, making it the second coldest place in the state, the spokesman said.
The minimum temperature dropped by a degree in Pahalgam hill resort, which also serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, to settle at minus 2.9 degrees Celsius.
Weather stations recorded a dip in the night temperatures at other places as well.The minimum temperature in north Kashmir town of Kupwara was minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, while the southern Kokernag resort recorded a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius against yesterday’s minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir along Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, recorded a minimum of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, tourism officials said a good number of tourists have started arriving in the Valley to celebrate the New Year.
“Over the past couple of days, we have received a good number of tourists and are hopeful that the trend will pick up in the coming days,” a tourism official said.
He said his department has planned several events especially in Gulmarg to make the visit of the tourists a memorable one. (PTI)
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