SRINAGAR: The Meteorological department today forecast light rain and snow at isolated places of Jammu and Kashmir till January 31. Today the weather will generally be cloudy with possibility of light rain/snow at scattered places, a MeT official said. He said on January 23 there is a possibility of very light rain/light snow at isolated places, while on from January 24-28 the weather will likely remain dry. From January 29-31 the weather conditions will likely remain cloudy with light rain/snow at isolated places. The official advised tourists, travelers and transporters to follow advisories from administration and traffic department. Meanwhile Kashmir’s famed ski resort Gulmarg received yet another spell of snowfall while some plains also experienced rainfall during the past 24 hours, officials said. The higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley, including the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, received 11.2 mm of snowfall, much to the delight of the tourists staying there. Several parts of the Kashmir Valley also experienced light rainfall. Barring Gulmarg, the night temperature continued to rise across all the weather stations of the valley and recorded 3°C to 6°C above normal during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. The day temperature recorded on Monday was also 3°C to 5°C above normal at many weather stations except Gulmarg and Kupwara the other day. The minimum temperature at Srinagar further improved and recorded 0.6°C against the 1.0°C the previous night, and this was 2.9°C above the average for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir during the period. Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district turned out to be the coldest place in the valley, with a minimum temperature plummeting to -8.5°C against the -3.2°C the previous night. This was 0.1°C below the normal for the ski resort during this period of the season. Pahalgam also witnessed a significant dip and recorded at -4.2°C against the -2.2°C the previous night. This was 2.7°C above normal for the tourist spot of South Kashmir during the period. Qazigund on the Srinagar Jammu national highway had a low of 1.6°C against -1.6°C the previous night, and it was 5.9°C above normal for the gateway to Kashmir during the period, the MeT office said. The night temperature also witnessed significant improvement at Kokernag, also in South Kashmir, and recorded at a low of 1.2°C against -1.4°C the previous night, and it was 4.9°C above the average for the picnic spot during the period. Kupwara had a low of 1.2°C against 1°C the previous night, and this was 4.9°C above normal for the frontier district of North Kashmir during this period of the season.
