Due to snowfall in the upper reaches of Kashmir, Srinagar-Gurez and Srinagar-Ladakh roads have been closed for traffic. However, vehicles were plying on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway
Upper reaches of Kashmir valley received season’s another snowfall, while plains were lashed by heavy rains on Sunday.
The meteorological office in Srinagar had predicted rain and snow till late in the night and improvement in weather from Monday.
Due to snowfall, Srinagar-Gurez and Srinagar-Ladakh roads have been closed for traffic. However, vehicles were plying on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
Since early in the morning, the plains of Kashmir started experiencing rainfall, while the upper reaches received light to moderate snowfall.
Tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Sonmarg also got covered in a blanket of snow. Srinagar and other rural townships witnessed rains throughout the day that resulted in a sharp drop in temperature.
Zojilla Pass on Srinagar-Leh national highway has been closed for traffic due to snowfall in the region. Besides, Minimarg and Dras in the Ladakh region also received snowfall.
“Due to bad weather conditions and snowfall at Zojila Pass, the vehicular movement from Srinagar towards Kargil and vice versa on NH1D is hereby suspended/abandoned. All the people, travelers, drivers, and tourists to avoid traveling during the forecasted days and contact Police Control Room Kargil for more information and updates (sic),” said Ladakh police in a tweet.
MeT director Sonum Lotus said as per the weather patterns, rains in plains and snow in upper reaches will continue till late in the night. “From tomorrow, there will be an improvement in the weather and there is no prediction of heavy snowfall for next 10 to 12 days,” Lotus added.
Meanwhile, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir recorded another cold night, but there was an improvement in the night temperature as compared to previous nights.
Srinagar recorded 0.6°C, Pahalgam recorded 2.7°C while Gulmarg registered – 1.4°C temperature. North Kashmir’s Kupwara town registered 1.6°C, Leh shivered at – 3.6°C and Dras observed – 5.1°C temperature.
The wintry conditions in the Valley set in much ahead of the beginning of the extremely harsh weather conditions which usually start around the third week of December.
Chillai Kalan, the 40-day period of harsh winter in Kashmir, begins on December 21 every year. Some parts of south Kashmir had received snow in late October that caused damage to fruit growers, who hadn’t harvested their crop.
