Several parts of the Kashmir valley received snowfall giving residents respite from intense cold conditions as night temperatures stayed above the freezing point, according to local reports.
Cold wave today further tightened its grip in Kashmir as mercury dipped by several degrees in most parts of the Valley with Kargil, in Ladakh region, recording the coldest night of the winter so far.
Kargil, in the frontier Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 15.7 degrees Celsius, a drop of almost seven degrees from the previous night's low of minus 8.9 degrees Celsius, an official of the MeT Department in Srinagar said.
The town was also the coldest place in the state.
The nearby Leh town registered a minimum temperature of minus 14.8 degrees Celsius last night as against minus 14.1 degree Celsius the previous night.
The night temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, dropped over two degrees to settle at a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius as compared to 1.8 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The night temperature in Pahalgam hill resort, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, plummeted by over seven degrees to settle at a low of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius as compared to the previous night's minus 2.4 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg registered a drop of over a degree in the minimum temperature as the mercury settled at a low of minus 8.6 degrees Celsius as compared to minus 7.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Qazigund, the gateway town to the Kashmir Valley, recorded a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius, same as the previous night, the official said.
Kokernag, in south Kashmir, which recorded a low of minus 0.2 degree Celsius the previous night, registered a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius last night.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius as compared to minus 3.0 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Kashmir Valley is currently going through 'Chillai-Kalan', considered as the harshest 40-day winter period, which started on December 21.
However, the MeT Department has said the weather in the Valley would mainly remain dry for the next 24 hours and there would not be any change in it for the next few days.