Srinagar, and Shimla, the two state capitals of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are two of the most beloved tourist destinations of the hills of North India. Srinagar lies on an elevation of 5300 feet in the Kashmir Valley at the bank of the River Jhelum. Dal lake, a huge water body, is also situated in the heart of the city.
Meanwhile, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla is situated on a higher elevation of 7600 feet in the Dhauladhar range. However, Shimla is located more towards the foothills of the Himalayas.
When both the stations are compared, it is Srinagar which observes more intense weather conditions in terms of rain and snow as well as temperatures. As far as snowfall activity is concerned, it occurs over Shimla much before than in Srinagar. In fact, there have been times when Shimla receives snow in December while the snowy season begins in Srinagar only in January.
Last season has been proof of this when Shimla recorded snowfall at least twice while Srinagar only received its first spell of snow on January 4. This year, both the state capitals have already seen their first spell of snowfall.
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However, as far as cold weather is concerned, the intensity still remains much higher in Srinagar.
Below have been given reasons as to why is Srinagar colder than Shimla even after lying at a lower altitude:
Effect of Western Disturbances: The frequency of Western Disturbances increases as and when the month of December arrives. However, the effect of Western Disturbances is more over Srinagar is more as compared to Shimla. The reason being that sometimes these Western Disturbances track northeastwards due to which the state of Jammu and Kashmir bears the brunt more frequently as compared to the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Location: Another important reason as to why does Srinagar witness intense weather conditions is its proximity to the valley. Srinagar is in the Kashmir Valley while Shimla is located almost in the Himalayan foothills. The weather conditions in the valley region differs and is more intense.
Moreover, due to the landslides and snowfall triggered by these Western Disturbances cause Srinagar to remain cut off from the rest of Kashmir which does not usually happen in Shimla due to its location in the foothills
In a nutshell, minimum temperatures in Srinagar usually reach subzero during the month of December while Shimla only records minimum in single digit around 5 to 8 degrees. The sub-zero factor for Shimla comes into play much later during the winter season.
Let us look at the minimum and maximum temperatures across Srinagar and Shimla during the first half of December to see how cold Srinagar has been as compared to Shimla:
In the coming days, temperatures will witness a drop even further over both Srinagar as well as Shimla and more episodes of rain and snow will be observed. Meanwhile, Srinagar will continue to see chillier weather and sub-zero temperatures while Shimla will have to wait for freezing conditions to make an appearance.
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Please Note: Any information picked from here must be attributed to skymetweather.com