Sun shines after overnight rain in Valley

The Kashmir valley finally had some sunshine on Friday as the overnight downpour cleared the fog that had enveloped the region for the past four days.
The downpour, coupled with thunderstorms, lashed several parts of the Kashmir region on Thursday evening.
Rain was recorded in Srinagar, its adjoining districts, north Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort and south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort, an official of the state Meteorological Department said.
The rain cleared the dense layer of fog from the region, including the city here, which had enveloped it for the past three days.
The foggy weather, that decreased visibility in the daytime, had caused disruption of air traffic.
Flights remained grounded for three days this week — on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — and resumed with delay on Thursday as visibility partially improved.
Experts warned that this week’s lengthy spell of foggy weather was a “worrisome trend that should alert all of us”.
“The current haze over Kashmir has to do more with the deteriorating air quality in the Valley,” said Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the earth sciences department at Kashmir University.
As the sky over Kashmir became clear on Friday after a brief wet spell overnight, the state Meteorological Department forecast suggested a dry week ahead with no downpour expected for the next seven days.
Srinagar is likely to witness partly cloudy sky on Saturday, according to the Meteorological Department’s forecast, with temperature rising to a maximum of 13 degree Celsius and dropping to a minimum of minus 1 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Srinagar had been hovering around freezing levels as overnight temperature had dropped to 0.2 degree Celsius, said the Meteorological Department.