Saturday, 10 January 2026
Saturday, 10 January 2026
Parts of the Dal Lake in Srinagar froze on Friday as the city recorded its coldest night of the winter, with temperatures plunging well below the freezing point across the Kashmir valley, officials said.
Srinagar’s minimum temperature dropped to minus 6.0 degrees Celsius on Thursday night, lower than the previous night’s minus 5.1 degrees Celsius. Officials said this was the season’s coldest night in the city so far, with the minimum temperature settling 4.1 degrees below the seasonal average.
The intense cold led to the freezing of portions of several water bodies, including the inner areas of the Dal Lake.
Pahalgam, a major tourist destination in south Kashmir and one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, emerged as the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir.
The resort recorded a minimum temperature of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, though it was one degree higher than the previous night.
In north Kashmir, the popular ski resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees higher than the previous night, officials said.
Sonamarg, another tourist resort in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, registered a minimum temperature of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, saw the mercury dip to minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, the coldest of the season there, officials said.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara registered minus 5.8 degrees Celsius, they added.
The Kashmir valley is currently in the grip of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, the 40-day period of harsh winter when night temperatures frequently fall several degrees below freezing and the likelihood of snowfall is at its highest. ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, which began on December 21 last year, will end on January 30.
Despite the severe cold, the plains of the valley have not received any snowfall so far this season.
The India Meteorological Department said the weather is likely to remain dry but cloudy until January 21. It added that night temperatures are expected to witness a significant drop in the valley till January 10, after which they are likely to rise by one to two degrees.
