JAMMU: Cold wave continued to sweep J&K and Ladakh on Friday with Jammu recording season’s coldest night at 2.8 degrees Celsius and the Drass town remaining frozen at minus 28.5.“Light rain/snow is likely in J&K and Ladakh on December 21-22, but the present cold wave condition is expected to continue during the next two to three days.“No major snowfall is expected in J&K and Ladakh till December 31”, an official of the MET department said.Absence of snowfall on new year eve is unlikely to disappoint scores of tourists and adventure lovers who have made bookings for the new year eve in Gulmarg and Pahalgam.There is four ft deep snow on the ground in Gulmarg and the entire meadow is bedecked with a white snow blanket to welcome tourists.Encouragingly for the local tourist industry, all hotels and huts in Gulmarg are completely sold out to new year enthusiasts where the minimum temperature was minus 10.6 on Friday.Srinagar recorded minus 6.0 and Pahalgam minus 9.2 as the night’s lowest temperature.Leh town of Ladakh witnessed minus 18.4, Kargil minus 17.0 and Drass minus 28.5 as the minimum temperatures.Jammu city had 2.8, Katra 3.6, Batote 0.3, Bannihal minus 0.6 and Bhaderwah minus 3.5 as the minimum temperatures.Night temperatures have started dropping below the freezing point in Kashmir division and Ladakh ahead of the 40-day long period of harsh winter cold called the “Chillai Kalan” in local parlance which begins on December 21.The summer flow of all the rivers, streams, springs and lakes in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh depends upon how well have the perennial water reservoirs in the mountains been replenished by a bountiful snowfall during the Chillai Kalan.
