SRINAGAR — Amid snowfall in upper reaches including Gulmarg and rains in plains, night temperature recorded a rise in Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.
A meteorological department official here told GNS Gulmarg received about 8 cms of fresh snowfall overnight. He said upper reaches also had a snowfall while rains lashed plains with Srinagar recording 0.6mm of rain, Kupwara 0.4mm while Pahalgam and Konibal received traces of it till 0830 hours. Due to overnight cloud cover, the night temperature settled above freezing point except for Gulmarg and Pahalgam.
Srinagar recorded a rise of 6 degrees Celsius with mercury settling at 3.8°C against last night’s minus 2.2°C in the summer capital of the J&K. The temperature was above 2.9°C than the normal for this time of the year in Srinagar, he said.
Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of 2.2°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night, he said.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, had a low of 2.2°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night, the official said.
Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2.4°C against minus 6.0°C last night, he said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 5.0°C against minus 8.0°C on the previous night, he said.
The temperature was 1.7°C above normal for this time of the year in the famous resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of 2.2°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night, the official said.
While ‘Chillai Kalan’, the 40-day long harshest period of winter ended on January 30, and 20-day long ‘Chillai Khurd’ culminated on February 19, Kashmir is presently under the grip of 10-day-long ‘Chilla Bachha’.
Jammu recorded a low of 12.8°C against 8.1°C on the previous night, the official said. The temperature was 2.2°C above normal for the J&K’s winter capital during this time of the year, he said.
Banihal recorded a low of 4.6°C, Batote 7.3°C and Bhaderwah 5.1°C, the official said.
Ladakh’s Leh recorded a low of minus 8.6°C against last night minus 13.5°C while mercury at automatic station in Kargil settled at minus 12.4°C. Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 14.0°C against minus 21.6°C on the previous night, official said.
Weatherman has forecast widespread light to moderate rain and snow, during February 22-23.
“Widespread light to moderate rain/snow, mainly over higher reaches most likely during February 22-23 with main activity on February 22 (night) and February 23,” said the official here, adding, “It may affect highways like Jammu-Srinagar, Sinthan Top, Sadhna Top etc.” After this spell, the official said, there’s no forecast of any major rain or snow for the next 10 days. — (GNS)