Cloud cover pulls up minimum temperatures in Valley

Srinagar, Jan 17 : Overnight cloud cover in the Valley on Wednesday improved minimum temperatures even as Kargil town of Ladakh region remained the coldest in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 19 degree Celsius.

"Cloud cover during the night resulted in improvement of minimum temperatures in the Valley today even though these continued to remain below the freezing point.

"In Srinagar city, the minimum temperature was minus 3.6 while it was minus 3.8 in Pahalgam and minus 4 in Gulmarg," an official of the MET department said.

With just a fortnight left for the 40-day period of harsh winter cold called the 'Chillai Kalan' to end, there hasn't been any major snowfall in Kashmir so far.

A dry 'Chillai Kalan' has always been ill-ominous for the Valley. Unless it snows heavily during this period, all rivers, streams, lakes and springs remain depleted during the summer months.

Leh town recorded minus 13.6 as the night's lowest on Wednesday.

"Jammu city recorded 7.5, Katra 7.7, Batote 3.1, Bannihil minus 1.5, Bhaderwah 0.2 and Udhampur 0.9 as the minimum temperature today", the official said.