In Photos: Kashmir Valley’s Fresh Snow After Month-Long Dry Spell

The higher reaches received fresh snowfall while the plains were lashed by rains.

Over a month-long dry spell in Jammu and Kashmir ended on 11 December with the higher reaches receiving fresh snowfall while the plains were lashed by rains, leading to a rise in minimum temperature at most places across the Valley and Ladakh region.

Many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir received fresh snowfall during the night, the Meteorological (MeT) Department officials said.

They said Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, recorded 15 cm (about six inches) of fresh snowfall till 8:30 am Monday morning.

The officials said light snowfall was also recorded at the other famous health resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir.

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of 3.1 degrees Celsius, up by over four degrees from the previous night’s minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding that the city received 4.3 mm of rainfall during the night.

The minimum temperature across the Jammu region rose by several notches to settle above average during this part of the season as the city and other plains were lashed by rains.

Jammu city had last witnessed light rains on 15 November after over two months of dry spell.

Leh continued to be the coldest recorded place in the state as the mercury settled at a low of minus 3.7 degrees Celsius last night, which, though, was an increase of over six degrees from minus 9.7 degrees Celsius the previous night, they said.

There are reports of snowfall in other areas in the higher reaches of the Valley like Gurez, Tulail, Razdan Pass, Sonamarg, Zojila, Amarnath Cave, Sadhna Top and Affarwat.

The officials said plain areas in Kashmir, including the summer capital Srinagar, received rains which were going on at many places.

This is the first major wet spell during the current season in the state, they said.

The cloud cover in the sky brought respite from the intense cold wave conditions as the mercury rose by several degrees across the Kashmir division, except at Gulmarg.

The officials said Gulmarg was the only place in the Kashmir Valley where the night temperatures decreased last night and settled below the freezing point.

The officials said snowfall was also reported in the hills around Jawahar Tunnel along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway – the all weather road connecting Kashmir with rest of the country, but failed to disrupt the traffic.

(With inputs from PTI.)

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