Kashmir parts receive snowfall

Srinagar, Dec 16: The higher reaches of Kashmir and Gulmarg ski resort on Saturday experienced fresh snowfall while the minimum temperatures plummeted in south Kashmir areas.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said that the weather would improve from Sunday with rains and snow at very isolated places.

The reports of fresh snowfall were received from Gulmarg, Karnah, Machil, Gurez, and almost all upper reaches of Kupwara.

There have also been reports of light rains in some plains of Kashmir.

“The light snowfall in these areas started on Saturday late afternoon and continued intermittently,” the MeT officials said. “The weather will improve from Sunday with precipitation at very isolated places.”
The fresh precipitation is the result of a fresh Western Disturbance that would impact the weather across the country’s northern region.

These disturbances are essentially low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean Sea and move eastwards while gathering moisture, which then gets dumped over North India.

“As the intensity of these conditions will be very light, no weather alerts have been issued in these territories so far,” the IMD officials had said on Friday.

The MeT officials said that Saturday’s minimum temperature in Srinagar was below normal by 0.3 degrees Celsius.

They said Gulmarg ski resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius against minus 3.4 degrees Celsius the previous night and the temperature was 1.4 degrees Celsius above normal at the resort.

The MeT officials said that Pahalgam health resort in Anantnag recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius against minus 5 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was 1.3 degrees Celsius below normal at the resort.

They said Kokernag in Anantnag recorded a minimum of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius against minus 1.9 degrees Celsius the previous night and the temperature was below normal by 0.7 degrees Celsius for the place.

The MeT officials said Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius against minus 2.8 degrees Celsius the previous night while the minimum temperature was 2.7 degrees Celsius below normal in the area.

They said Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.7 degrees Celsius against minus 4.2 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was 0.7 degrees Celsius above normal in the frontier district.
The MeT officials said Jammu recorded a minimum of 5.9 degrees Celsius against 7.3 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was below normal by 3.3 degrees Celsius.