SRINAGAR: Amid forecast for generally dry weather till March 20, most places witnessed a drop in night temperature with Gulmarg recording minus 5.2°C on Friday. A meteorological department official said that Srinagar recorded a minimum of 1.7°C against 4.4°C on the previous night which was below normal by 2.0°C for the summer capital of JK for this time of the year. Qazigund recorded a minimum of 2.2°C against 1.8°C on the previous night and it was 0.1°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said. Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 3.1°C against minus 1.3°C on the previous night and it was 1.9°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir. Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of 2.3°C against 1.3°C on the previous night and it was 0.2°C below normal, the official said. Kupwara town recorded a low of 0.6°C against 1.2°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C below normal there, the official said. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 5.2°C against minus 4.8°C on the previous night and it was below normal by 1.9°C for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 10.5°C and it was below normal by 3.5°C for the winter capital of J&K. Banihal recorded a low of 3.2°C, Batote 5.6°C and Bhaderwah 2.7°C, he said. While largely dry weather has been forecast till March 20, the weatherman said that a fresh spell of rain and snow was expected in J&K from thereafter till March 24.
