Srinagar: Chillai Kalan, the 40-day period of harshest winter, commenced in Kashmir on Saturday with Srinagar experiencing its coldest December night in five decades at minus 8.5 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department.

Minimum temperatures dropped several notches below the freezing point in other parts of the valley as well.

In Srinagar, the temperature came down to minus 8.5 degrees Celsius on Friday night from minus 6.2 degrees Celsius the previous night, the meteorological department said.

It was Srinagar’s coldest December night since 1974, when the city recorded a low of minus 10.3 degrees Celsius, and the third coldest since 1891.

Srinagar’s lowest-ever minimum temperature in this month was minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934.

The intense cold led to the freezing of several water bodies, including parts of the famous Dal Lake here, and water supply lines in many areas of the city and elsewhere in the valley.

South Kashmir’s tourist resort Pahalgam, which also serves as one of the base camps for the Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 8.6 degrees Celsius while the famous ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius.

Konibal, a hamlet on the outskirts of Pampore town, was the coldest weather station in the valley with a minimum temperature of minus 10.5 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature settled at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius in Qazigund, minus 7.2 degrees Celsius in Kupwara and minus 5.8 degrees Celsius in Kokernag.

This was Kupwara’s lowest December temperature since 1998 and the ninth lowest ever in this month.

The meteorological office has forecast mainly dry weather till December 26 with a possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches of the valley on the intervening night of December 21-22.

Light snow over the higher reaches is also possible from the afternoon of December 27 to the forenoon of December 28. The weather is likely to be mainly dry on December 29-30 while light snowfall is expected in the higher reaches on the New Year’s Eve, it said.

The weather office said the cold wave at isolated places would continue over the next few days.

During the 40 days of ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the chances of snowfall are the maximum and the temperature drops considerably.

‘Chillai Kalan’ will end on January 31 next year but the cold wave continues in the valley as it is followed by a 20-day ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).