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Kashmir dry spell finally ends with light snowfall, rain. There's more in store, says IMD
The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded light to moderate snowfall from the morning
Kashmir’s mountains received light snowfall and the plains witnessed light rainfall on Sunday, breaking the prolonged dry spell over the past two months.
People expressed relief after the dry and parched slopes, and tree tops were seen covered with snow in the upper reaches and the plains were drenched by light rains in some areas of the Himalayan valley.
The ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded light to moderate snowfall from the morning, bringing relief from the dry weather conditions this winter and covering the brown and sun bleached meadow with a thin white blanket of snow.
“The Valley’s mountains including Gulmarg are receiving snow since morning while rains are also recorded in some areas. The dry spell of the past two months has broken,” said India Meteorological Department’s Srinagar centre director Mukhtar Ahmad.
Owing to climate change, Jammu and Kashmir experienced a prolonged dry spell amid harsh winter, with barely any precipitation since December. The Srinagar meteorological centre had said that the Union Territory received 13mm precipitation in December last year, much less than the average 60mm. In Srinagar, the precipitation was 17mm in December 2023, against a normal of 46mm. January was by and large dry so far.
Snowfall was also seen in the upper reaches of Kupwara and Bandipora districts, including at Sadhna Pass, Farkiyan Gali, Z Gali of Machhil and prominent tourist destination of Bungas, Jumgund and Kamkadi.
Moderate rains were recorded in the plains of northern Baramulla district and summer capital Srinagar witnessed a brief shower in the evening.
The MeT said in an update that on Monday, there was possibility of light to moderate rain/snow at multiple places of J&K with heavy snowfall over isolated higher reaches of Kashmir division, including Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Shopian, Anantnag and Kulgam districts.
The centre said that the same weather conditions will continue till February 4.
“Possibility of light to moderate rain/snow at many places of J&K and also possibility of intermittent light to moderate rain with thunder/lightning in plains of Jammu division with light snowfall over higher reaches with moderate snowfall over isolated higher reaches from Jan 28 to 31,” it said.
The MeT has issued an advisory said that the weather system may lead to temporary closure of roads of higher reaches and important passes, such as Sinthan pass, Mughal Road, Sadhna and Razdan pass, Zojila etc. “Travellers are advised to plan accordingly while farmers are advised to withheld irrigation and fertilizer application & drain out excess water from orchards and fields during the above mentioned period,” the MeT said.
The director MeT said that there will be a significant drop in day temperature during the above period while night temperatures will witness a rise.
The MeT update said that the minimum temperature in capital Srinagar on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday was recorded above zero at 3.3 degrees Celsius, up from minus 2.3 degrees Celsius a night earlier.
The ski resort of Gulmarg in the north recorded lowest temperature of -3.5 degrees Celsius. The southern Pahalgam tourist resort recorded a low of minus 0.8 degrees Celsius and it was 0.8 degrees Celsius at Konibal.
The meteorological update said that the gateway to Kashmir in south, Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius and the southern Kokernag observed a minimum of minus 0.1 degrees Celsius. In North Kashmir, Kupwara recorded a low of 2.1 degrees Celsius.
