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Snow, rain expected over higher reaches in Kashmir: MeT
The meteorological department said the weather was partly and fairly cloudy at most of the places in the union territory
The weather was overcast in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday with the meteorological department (MeT) expecting light rain and snowfall over higher reaches on Saturday.
The MeT said the weather was partly and fairly cloudy at most of the places in the union territory.
“On December 23, the forecast is of generally cloudy weather with possibility of light rain/snow over isolated higher reaches on Saturday early morning and improvement thereafter,” said MeT director Mukhtar Ahmad.
Kashmir’s harshest winter period, “Chilla-i-Kalan”, began on Thursday with the mercury dropping several notches below the freezing point at many places.
The minimum temperatures were below zero on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday as well in the valley.
The southern Konibal area and Pahalgam tourist resort were the coldest at -5.5°C and -4.8°C respectively. The ski resort of Gulmarg in the north recorded temp of -1.0°C.
In Srinagar, the temperature was -3.3°C, some 1.3 notches below normal for the summer capital.
The MeT update further said the gateway to Kashmir in South Kashmir, Qazigund recorded a minimum of -3.0°C while the southern area of Kokernag observed a minimum of minus 2.4°C. In North Kashmir, Kupwara recorded a low of -3.4°C.
The MeT director Ahmad said the weather will be generally dry from December 24 to 26. “On December 27, the weather will be generally cloudy with the possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches,” he said.
“Overall, no significant weather activity till the end of December,” he said.
Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21, followed by 20 days of comparatively less intense chill (Chilla-i-Khurd), and final 10 days of mild cold (Chill-e-Bache).
