Srinagar: Fresh snowfall ended the dry-winter spell across Kashmir valley with north Kashmir’s Gulmarg recording 12 inches of snowfall on Saturday and the season's coldest night at minus 11.0°C.
As per the meteorological department, Gulmarg received 12 inches of snowfall in the last 24 hours followed by south Kashmir’s Pahalgam 47 cm (18.8 inches), Qazigund 50.9cm(20.36 inches), Kupwara 10.4 cm (4.16 inches) and Srinagar had the least with 9 cm (3.6 inches).
As per the forecast, from January 15-18, weather is likely to be partly cloudy with the possibility of fog in the plains of Jammu & Kashmir during morning hours another Western Disturbance is likely to affect J&K from January 19th onwards, and chances of precipitation are 60%.
Meanwhile, the mercury settled at minus 1°C in Srinagar (2.0°C above normal) and Qazigund recorded a low of minus 0.4°C against minus 0.4°C (2.7°C above normal) for the gateway town.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 5.9°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night and it was 1.2°C above normal for the place, concerned officials said.
The coldest night recorded this season in the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district was on January 2 when the mercury plunged to minus 9.6°C, he said.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.2°C against minus 0.2°C on the previous night, he said. It was 2.4°C above normal for the place.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 11.0°C against minus 0.6°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 3.1°C below normal and the coldest night temperature this season as it surpassed the previous low of minus 10.0°C which was recorded on January 2 in the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the official said.
In Kupwara, the mercury settled at minus 3.6°C against minus 0.7°C on the previous night and it was o.7°C below normal in the north Kashmir area, he said.
Jammu, which received 5.6mm of rainfall in the 24 hours, recorded a low of 6.6°C against 7.5°C on the previous night. It was 0.4°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Batote had 52.2mm of rain and recorded a low of minus 1.3°C (below normal by 2.9°C), Katra received 16.0mm of rain and recorded a low of 5.8°C (0.1°C below normal)
Pir Panjal’s Banihal received 46.7mm of rainfall and recorded a low of minus 0.2°C (below normal by 0.1°C), and Chenab’s Bhadarwah received 26.8mm of rain and recorded a minimum of minus 0.6°C (0.5°C below normal).
In Ladakh, Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 12.0°C and minus 8.4°C respectively, the official said.
Kashmir is under the grip of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day-long harshest winter period that starts from December 21 followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (mild cold) that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) from February 20 to March 1.
(GNS)