Srinagar: After a prolonged dry Chillia-Kalan (the harshest winter), Srinagar received the season's first snowfall on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, with a light blanket of snow covering the entire city as Chillia-Khurd, the mild winter period, began.
A meteorological department official informed that in the last 24 hours, most parts of Central Kashmir including Srinagar received 2 to 4 inches of snow.
He added that 10 to 15 inches of snow was received over middle and higher reaches of Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Badgam, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian, 6-8 inches of snow was recorded over lower reaches and Plains of North, North-western and South Kashmir.
There was also light to moderate rain with thunder over Jammu Division with light snow over a few middle and higher regions.
Meanwhile, night temperature recorded a drop with Srinagar recording a low of 0.2°C against 2.2°C on the previous night and it was 0.9°C above normal for the Kashmir capital.
In South Kashmir; Qazigund, the gateway town of the valley, recorded a minimum of 0.4°C, same as on the previous night, above normal by 1.7°C.
While Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 4.1°C against 0.1°C on the previous night, above-normal by 2.0°C, Kokernag logged minus 1.4°C against 0.2°C on the previous night, above normal by 1.0°C.
In north Kashmir, Gulmarg, world famous skiing resort recorded a low of minus 7.6°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night, the temperature was normal.
Kupwara recorded a low of minus 0.7°C against 1.3°C on the previous night and it was 1.6°C above normal there, the official said.
Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 7.2°C and it was below normal by 1.2°C.
Pir Panchal’s Banihal recorded a low of 0.2°C and Chenab region’s Bhaderwah 0.2°C.
Last year, Srinagar experienced snowfall during Chillai-Kalan, the harshest winter period. However, this year, the absence of snowfall resulted in the depletion of water bodies and increased occurrences of wildfires.