Parts of Kashmir Valley including Srinagar received fresh light snowfall, leading to a considerable increase in the mercury, the weatherman said on Wednesday.
A meteorological department official said that Srinagar witnessed 0.8-centimeter of fresh snowfall till 0830 hours today while mercury settled at minus 0.7°C against minus previous nights minus 4.6°C in the summer capital of J&K.
It was for the first time in many days that Srinagar recorded temperature above the normal for this time of the year. Otherwise, the minimum temperatures have consistently remained far below normal this season. On January 31, the mercury plunged to minus 8.8°C, the coldest January night recorded in three decades.
Previously, it was on 20 January 1991 that Srinagar witnessed a low of minus 11.8°C while the lowest ever temperature in January was recorded on the 31st day in 1893 when the mercury plummeted to minus 14.4 degrees Celsius. In last 38 years, there have been 17 occasions when Srinagar recorded minus 8°C or less of which 1991 remained the coldest and harshest winter with the prolonged cold spell of nine days of minus 8.0°C.
The minimum temperature also improved in other parts of the Valley, the MeT official said. The mercury settled at minus 3.9°C in Pahalgam against minus 9.3.0°C on the previous night while the normal temperature for the world-famous health resort is minus 6.1°C for this time of the year. Qazigund, the gateway town of J&K, recorded a low of minus 2.8°C against minus 4.5°C on the previous night while Kokernag recorded a minimum of minus 2.4°C against minus 8.4°C on the earlier night while it had 0.4cms of snow. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 5.2°C against minus 7.0°C earlier night while the world’s famous skiing resort received the highest snowfall of 14.0cms of fresh snow, the official said. The mercury settled at minus 1.2°C in Kupwara against minus 1.6°C on the previous night while northern Kashmir district received 0.4cms during the time, the official added.
The weatherman has forecast “widespread light to moderate rain/snow/thundershowers” in the next 24 hours. “Expect light to moderate snowfall on February 3rd in Kashmir. Also, there is a possibility of rain with thunderstorms in Jammu from on 3rd afternoon and 4th February forenoon besides light snowfall at scattered places of Ladakh on February 3,” Director MeT Sonam Lotus said. GNS
