The weatherman on Tuesday predicted light snowfall in higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh over the next two days.
Director meteorological department Sonam Lotus said, “The weather is likely to remain partly cloudy with the possibility of light snow at isolated places in the higher reaches of the two Union Territories over the next two days,” he said, adding that there was no chance of heavy snowfall over the next 10 days.
This year, summer in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was unusually dry. Meteorologist Mohammad Hussain said, “The year, the weather in J&K was abnormally dry. The western disturbance brought negligible precipitation and rainfall between July and October (monsoon) was 35% below normal.”
The Valley mostly owes its precipitation to the western disturbance — winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea.
Hussain attributed the dry weather to global and periodic weather changes: “J&K is still going through a high pressure zone and the new prediction of light snowfall will not affect the dry weather in the plains. The plains in the UTs will remain dry. The situation will remain the same for the next three and four weeks.”
The minimum temperature in Srinagar on Tuesday was 1.2°C and 20.6°C. The lowest temperature in Kashmir (-0.7°C) was recorded at Pahalgam, while Ladakh recorded a minimum of -5.9°C.