Snow blankets Kashmir, hilly areas of Jammu

SRINAGAR — Kashmir Valley including Srinagar has been covered in a blanket of snow on Monday and the weatherman has forecast more snowfall in the next 12 hours and a gradual decrease from tonight.

An unnamed meteorological department official, quoted by the news agency GNS, said that widespread moderate to heavy snowfall has been reported in Kashmir and hilly areas of Jammu. Also, moderate rain with thunderstorms was reported in most places of Jammu.

“Snowfall and rain are very likely to continue for the next 12 hours. Expect a gradual decrease in precipitation from later tonight,” he said. On January 31, he said, cloudy weather with light snow and rain was expected in isolated to scattered places.

Meanwhile, he said, in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours, Srinagar received 12.5 cm of snow, Qazigund 13.0 cm, Pahalgam 22.1 cm, Kupwara 4.5 cm, Kokernag 8.5 cm, Gulmarg 30.5 cm (above 1 foot), Banihal 0.4 cm and Bhaderwah 2.0 cm.

Regarding temperature, he said that Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.2°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 0.8°C for the summer capital.

Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 0.1°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night and it was 2.5°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.

Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 1.4°C against minus 5.6°C on the previous night and it was 4.7°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.8°C against minus 2.7°C on the previous night and it was 1.8°C above normal for the place, the officials said.

Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 4.6°C against minus 7.2°C on the previous night and it was 2.9°C above normal for the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.

In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 0.4°C against minus 1.0°C on the previous night and it was above 2.1°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.

Jammu received 8.9mm of rain during the 24 hours and recorded a low of 10.4°C against 7.6°C on the previous night. It was 1.7°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.

Banihal received 25.5mm of rain and recorded a low of 0.2°C (above normal by 0.4°C), Batote received 43.6mm and recorded a low of 1.2°C (below normal by 0.5°C), Katra received 17.6mm of rain and recorded a low of 9.0°C (2.1°C above normal) while Bhadarwah received 34.8mm of rain during the time and recorded a minimum temperature of minus 0.6°C (0.2°C below normal).

Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 0.6°C and minus 6.8°C respectively, the official said.

While Chilla-i-Kalan, the 40-day-long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, a 20-day-long period called ‘Chilla-i-Khurd’ has started. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chilla-i-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.