Srinagar, Jan 1 (IANS): Night temperatures dipped to the lowest of this season in Srinagar and Leh Sunday as frost and freeze greeted Kashmiris on New Year's Day.

"Srinagar and Leh recorded the lowest temperatures of the season today at minus 4.9 degrees Celsius and minus 18.8 respectively. In Kargil town of Ladakh region, the minimum fell to minus 16 degrees today," said Sonam Lotus, director of the local meteorological office.

"(North Kashmir's) Gulmarg (ski resort) shivered at minus 8 while the (south Kashmir's) Pahalgam hill station was at 7 degrees," he said.

The cold wave conditions would continue in the Valley and the Ladakh region for at least two to three days more, said Lotus.

"Due to polar winds, we should be prepared for a further dip in the minimum temperatures here", he cautioned.

The absence of major snowfall this season is worrying the locals since this replinishes the perennial water reservoirs of the Valley that sustain various rivers, lakes and streams.

"It is only a couple of major snowfalls during the Chillai Kalan (40-day period of extreme winter beginning December 21 and ending January 30) that sustain our water resources during the summer months," said Bashir Ahmad War, a retired senior veterinarian living in north Kashmir Ganderbal district.

"If the same cold, dry weather conditions continue, I am afraid we would have precious little water in the rivers during the coming summer", he said.

A deep layer of morning frost made roads highly slippery in the morning, adding to the woes of motorists.

"Roads are treacherous in the morning today. One has to drive very cautiously," said Abid Wani, a local businessman.