Weather to remain in Kashmir for next week: Predicts MeT

After recording intermittent light rains and snowfall since Friday night in Jammu and Kashmir, the meteorological department (MeT) in Srinagar on Sunday predicted dry weather conditions at least for the next week.

The weather in J&K was partly cloudy during the day, while yesterday night, the state recorded light rains and snowfall.

“As expected, there was light rain and light to moderate snow over the middle and higher reaches of the union territory,” said deputy director of MeT, Mukhtar Ahmad, in a weather update.

He, however, said that the weather will remain dry till December 20.

“There will be a further dip in minimum temperature across plains and hill stations after December 13,” he forecasted.

The precipitation in the past couple of days improved night temperatures in plains while the mercury dropped below zero degrees in mountain resorts like Gulmarg and Pahalgam.

The MeT update informed that the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed the lowest temperature of minus 5 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 4.5 degrees Celsius in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

The summer capital Srinagar witnessed a minimum of 3.5 degrees Celsius against 2.8 degrees Celsius, on the previous night. In Kokernag, the temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius against 2.3 degrees Celsius, on the previous night.

The gateway into Kashmir, Qazigund recorded a night temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius against 2.8 degrees Celsius, on the previous night.

On Saturday, the MeT had said that Gurez recorded 5 inches of snow, followed by Gulmarg (4 inches), Sonamarg (6 inches), Mughal road (3-4 inches), Keran (3 inches) and Sinthan pass (4 inches).

Kashmir’s mountains started receiving light snowfall on Friday prompting the closure of the Srinagar-Leh highway and Mughal road for traffic.