Weather update: Drass records -18.6°C, J&K, Ladakh under the spell of cold

The entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh regions have been gripped by severe cold waves. On the other hand Drass town in Kargil, the second coldest inhabited place on Earth, recorded -18.6 degrees Celsius. The two union territories are currently experiencing extreme weather.

A further dip in the weather has been forecasted during the night in coming five to six days. The weather in these regions are going to remain dry the whole time while the sky during the night will remain clear in both the regions.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperatures went below the freezing point in Ladakh and Kashmir, and Jammu also recorded low night temperatures. While Srinagar was at -3.2 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam recorded -5.3degrees Celsius. Gulmarg in Kashmir recorded -10.2 degrees Celsius, Leh in Ladakh was at -10.7 degrees Celsius and Kargil recorded -13.8 degrees Celsius.

On the other hand, the night temperatures recorded in Jammu was 3.1 degrees Celsius, Katra was 6.5 degrees Celsius, Bannihal -2.2 degrees Celsius and Bhaderwah -1.8 degrees Celsius.
Chillai Kalan, a 40-day period of harsh winter, that starts from December 21 and ends on January 31, is about to commence and temperatures are further going to fall in the regions. The weather remains dry and cold during this period and the perennial reservoirs in J&K and Ladakh regions get filled by heavy snowfall.