Min temp drops across Valley; rain, snow likely

With a clear overnight sky, minimum temperatures dropped across most places in Kashmir even as the weather department today predicted rain and snow in some parts of the Valley from tomorrow, owing to a likely effect of Western Disturbance here.
"A fresh Western Disturbance is likely to affect from February 28 onwards. There are chances of rains or snow at few places over the state," a Meteorological department spokesperson said today.
Owing to the clear skies during the night, the minimum temperatures across the division, including Ladakh region, dropped with the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir continuing to be the coldest recorded place, the spokesperson said.

Gulmarg, the star attraction for tourists especially skiers from abroad, recorded a low of minus 9 degrees Celsius, one notch down from yesterday's minus 8 degrees Celsius, he said.
The hill-resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, received fresh snowfall of three cms and the mercury there settled at a low of minus 1.7 degree Celsius - down by more than one notch from last night's 0.4 degree Celsius, the weatherman said.
Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir registered a minimum temperature of 0.6 degree Celsius, compared to 0.8 degree Celsius of the previous night.

He said the mercury in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, settled at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius as against minus 1.6 degrees Celsius yesterday.

Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway recorded a low of minus 0.8 degree Celsius - down from the previous night's 1.4 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, registered the minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degree Celsius, he said.
Leh, the frontier town in Ladakh region, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius as against the previous night's minus 1.7 degrees Celsius, the MeT official said.
The nearby Kargil town registered a low of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius - nearly four degrees down from the previous night's minus 5 degrees Celsius, he said.