SRINAGAR, Dec 3: The higher reaches of Kashmir valley including the picturesque Sonamarg experienced a fresh snowfall while some plains were lashed by rains overnight, officials said.
The famous tourist destination of Sonamarg in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district received a fresh light snowfall on Tuesday much to the delight of the tourists staying there.
The Sonamarg-Kargil road has been temporarily closed for vehicular traffic due to slippery conditions and snowfall on the Zojila pass connecting Ladakh with the Kashmir valley.
Reports of light snowfall were also received from the Gurez valley and other higher reaches of the Bandipora district, Machil in Kupwara and other higher reaches of north Kashmir overnight, Kashmir Weather, an independent forecaster Faizan Arif told UNI.
“There is a possibility of light snowfall in a few higher reaches of Kashmir valley during the next 24 hours”, he said and added “Thereafter, mostly dry weather is expected until December 7”.
“A couple of weak Western Disturbances (WD) may affect Jammu and Kashmir between December 7 and December 13 can cause light snowfall over the upper reaches and rain on some plains of the valley”, he added.
The Night temperature has improved and was recorded during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday above normal at all the weather stations of the Kashmir valley. However, the chilly cold continued following the fresh snowfall over the higher reaches of the Kashmir valley.
The night temperature at Srinagar further improved and settled at 1.8°C against the minus 0.8°C recorded the previous night. This was 3.0°C above normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir during this period of the season.
The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district emerged as the coldest place despite a slight improvement in the minimum temperature, settling at minus 2.4°C against the minus 2.9°C on Monday. This was still 0.7°C above normal for the valley of meadows during this period of the season. Gulmarg also received 1.2mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours.
However, the day temperature recorded on Monday was 0,2°C below normal of 12°C in Srinagar and 2.4°C below normal of 4.2°C at the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir.
Qazigund had a low of 0.5°C on Tuesday against the minus 1.4°C a day ago and this was 1.7°C above normal for the gateway of Kashmir in south Kashmir.
The minimum temperature at Pahalgam also improved and recorded at minus 1.8°C against the minus 2.3°C recorded on Monday. This was 1.5°C above normal for the famous tourist destination in south Kashmir.
The night temperature at the picnic spot of Kokernag in south Kashmir dropped and recorded at minus 0.2°C against the 0.2°C recorded the previous day and it was 0.4°C above normal for the place during this period of the season.
The frontier Kashmir district of Kupwara had a low of 1.8°C on Tuesday against the minus 0.6°C on Monday and this was 3.5°C above normal for the border area during this period of the season. Kupwara also received 1.6mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours, the MeT office said.
