Snowfall brings slight respite from cold in Kashmir

Light snowfall began in the Kashmir valley early today, leading to marginally warmer temperature in Srinagar compared to a day earlier.

Light snowfall began in the Kashmir valley early on Tuesday, leading to marginally warmer temperature in Srinagar compared to a day earlier.

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"Srinagar recorded 0.6 mm snowfall which began here early on Tuesday," Bilal Ahmad, scientific assistant at the local weather office in Srinagar, told IANS.

A weather official also added, "The minimum temperature was zero degrees in Srinagar, which is two degrees above normal." The minimum recorded on Monday was minus 2.2 degrees.

In south Kashmir's Pahalgam hill station, 2.5 cm of snowfall has been recorded so far and the minimum temperature recorded there was minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, Ahmad said. "We were expecting a western disturbance to arrive here around Jan 13, but it has arrived here earlier, causing precipitation," he said.

"Light to moderate snowfall is expected in the plains of the valley while snowfall will be moderate to heavy in the hills during the next 24 hours," he added.

Leh recorded a minimum of minus 15.2 degrees and Kargil minus 16 degrees. "In winter capital Jammu, the minimum temperature was 5.7 degrees -- two degrees below normal," the weather official said.