A day before the 40-day long period of harsh winter cold called the ‘Chillai Kalan’ sets in, bitter cold tightened its grip on Kashmir on Wednesday.A Meteorological (MeT) office statement said the minimum temperature was minus 4.4 degrees Celsius in Srinagar on Wednesday.
“Gulmarg also had minus 4.4 while Pahalgam had minus 6.3 as the minimum today.“Leh town in Ladakh region had minus 14.3, Kargil minus 12.6 and Drass minus 13 as the minimum temperature.“Jammu city had 6.4, Katra 6.5, Batote 5, Bhaderwah 1.4 and Banihal 5.4 as the night’s lowest temperature”, the statement said. A 40-day long period of harsh winter cold known locally as the ‘Chillai Kalan’ starts Thursday and will end on January 30.