Srinagar: Several plains of Kashmir witnessed their first snowfall of the season, bringing much-needed relief to residents after a prolonged dry spell.
Light snowfall was recorded in parts of north, south, and central Kashmir during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, offering respite from the long-standing dry weather.
The higher altitudes, including the renowned ski resort of Gulmarg, the scenic Sonamarg, and the picturesque Pahalgam, experienced moderate snowfall overnight.
However, the fresh snowfall led to the closure of several key roads. The Srinagar-Leh highway, a vital link connecting the Ladakh Union Territory, was shut down due to heavy snow accumulation. Similarly, the historic Mughal Road, which connects Shopian district in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch districts, and the Sinthan-Kishtwar road also remained inaccessible.
The Meteorological Centre has predicted continued cold and dry weather over the next 7 to 10 days, keeping the region in a grip of winter-like conditions.
With the snowfall and cloud cover, the night temperature significantly rose but stayed below freezing point.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, slipped to minus 0.5°C against the minus 3.0°C on Wednesday. This was still 0.1°C above normal for the place during this period of the season.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg remained the coldest place despite improvement in the minimum temperature recorded at minus 5.2°C against the minus 6.0°C the previous night. This was 1.6°C below normal for the valley of meadows in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
After recording the coldest night a day ago, the minimum temperature at Qazigund, the gateway town on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, significantly improved and recorded at 0.2°C against the minus 4.4°C on Wednesday, and it was 0.97°C above the normal for this time of year.
The night temperature at Kokernag, a popular picnic spot in south Kashmir, further improved and was recorded at minus 1.0°C on Thursday against the minus 2.0°C the previous night, though still 0.4°C below the average for the day.
In the frontier district of Kupwara, the mercury witnessed substantial improvement and recorded 0.5°C against the minus 4.5°C a day ago, and this was 2.3°C above normal for the place, the MeT office said.
UNI
