Kashmir Shivers As Cold Wave Intensifies, Fog Disrupts Visibility Across Several States

File photo of a tourist spot in Kashmir. (Image: Photo)

Cold wave in Kashmir intensified as minimum temperatures across the valley remained several degrees below the freezing point, officials said on Tuesday. Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.1 degrees Celsius, marking the second coldest night of the season, a day after temperature dipped to minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, according to the weather department.

Shopian in south Kashmir was the coldest location in the valley, with temperatures plunging to minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, followed closely by Pulwama at minus 5 degrees Celsius.

In the tourist destinations, Pahalgam in Anantnag district, one of the base camps for the Amarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 1.2°C. Zojila Pass, which connects the Kashmir valley with Ladakh, saw temperatures drop to minus 16°C.

The valley has been experiencing a prolonged dry spell since October, and the MET department has forecast dry weather for the coming week.

Fog Disrupts Visibility Across Multiple States

Meanwhile, dense to moderate fog was reported at 8.30 am on Tuesday across isolated parts of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, as well as Odisha and Himachal Pradesh, according to the IMD. Shallow fog was observed in parts of Punjab and at isolated locations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra and Kutch, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu–Puducherry–Karaikal.

Visibility dropped to as low as 50 metres in Rourkela, Agartala and parts of Nagaland, while several cities in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana reported visibility around 500 metres.

Minimum temperatures were below normal by 1.6 degrees to 3 degrees in many areas of Punjab and Haryana, with isolated dips in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra and Kutch, and Chhattisgarh. Hissar in Haryana recorded the lowest minimum temperature over the plains at 6.3°C.

Meanwhile, Karwar in Karnataka reported the country’s highest maximum temperature at 36.6°C on Monday.