Prolonged dry spell, severe cold wave worry locals, agri experts

Like November, the month of December in Kashmir valley has been largely dry with extremely cold temperatures going as low as -10°C, triggering concern among the weather and agricultural experts while also alarming the J&K government.

- Ashiq Hussain

SRINAGAR:

Except for some light bouts of snowfall over higher reaches, the month of December has behaved against expectations with no major snowfall in plains or the mountains causing cold wave conditions and affecting normal life in the Himalayan region.

Last week on Saturday when the Himalayan region's 40-day harsh winter period Chilai Kalan started, the capital Srinagar witnessed -8.5°C, the coldest in five decades, while mercury in south Kashmir's Konibal plunged to as low as -10.5°C.

Since then the weather has been consistently cold. On Thursday, the minimum temperature in Srinagar and Konibal was -7 and -9°C respectively.