Chillai Kalaan begins on chilly note

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 20

Chillai Kalaan, the harshest phase of winter in the Kashmir, is set to begin on a cold note as the state Meteorological Department has forecast snowfall in parts of the region in next 24 hours.

The 40-day long period of harsh winter, called the Chillai Kalaan in local parlance, will begin tonight even as temperature in the city has plunged to a low of minus 4.4 degree Celsius.

The weatherman said light rain and snowfall will occur at isolated places in the state during the next 24 hours while fairly widespread rain and snow would occur on Monday, following which there will be a decrease in precipitation.

Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 4.4 degree Celsius overnight, two degrees below the normal, an official of the state weather department said.

The Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir recorded the lowest temperature in the Valley with the mercury falling to a low of minus 6.2 degree Celsius. North Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort recorded a minimum of minus 3.4 degree Celsius.

Leh town in the remote Ladakh region, which remains cut-off from rest of the state for most of the winter, recorded a low of minus 13.9 degree Celsius, while the nearby Kargil town registered a low of minus 13.0 degree Celsius.