Srinagar: Snowfall in higher reaches of Kashmir, including tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Sonamarg, and rains in plains brought wintry chill earlier than usual in the Valley, officials said on Thursday.
“There was significant snowfall in many areas of Kashmir including Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Gurez, and Karnah during the intervening night,” the officials said.
The officials said more than two inches of snow had accumulated in the Gulmarg bowl while the snowfall was heavier in higher reaches of the Valley.
They said even the Zabarwan mountain range in the city had received traces of snowfall during the night.
Srinagar city and other areas of the Valley received moderate rainfall since the early hours of Thursday, bringing down the temperature by several degrees.
People have slipped into winter woolens and heavy jackets earlier than usual.
While the early snowfall has brought cheer to the faces of tourists from mainland, the orchardists in south Kashmir are worried lot as heavy snowfall before December will not only destroy their apple crop this year but cause damage to trees.
“We have had early snowfall now for three years in a row. I hope it was just a passing event as a heavy snowfall at this time will damage the trees which are still full of fruit,” PTI quoted Bashir Ahmad, an apple farmer from Shopian, as saying.
He said while early harvesting this year has ensured against any major loss, 20 percent of the crop was still on the trees.
The fresh wet spell brought down the mercury across the Valley. As per the details available, Srinagar recorded 7.5 degree Celsius today, which is 13.7 degree Celsius below the normal.
Gulmarg was the coldest place in Kashmir today as the mercury settled at 0.6 degree Celsius and Shopian was the second coldest at 4.9 degree Celsius followed by Pahalgam and Kulgam where the mercury settled at 5.0 degree Celsius and 5.3 degree Celsius.
Deputy Director MeT, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad told KNO that following the improvement in weather conditions this evening, the weather would remain mostly dry by the end of this month.
He said that besides possibility of light rainfall on October 26, the weather would remain mostly dry. He further said that the temperature would go down during morning and evening hours as well.
Meanwhile, the fresh snowfall also led to the closure of several roads including Sadhna Top, connecting the border town of Tangdhar, Mughal Road and other far-flung and remote areas, Kupwara and Gurez.
Heavy snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu on Thursday forced the closure of Mughal Road which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir’s Shopian, officials said here.
Several areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Reasi, Poonch, Ramban and Kathua districts witnessed heavy snowfall since Wednesday night.
“Mughal Road has been closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy snowfall,” Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic (Rajouri-Poonch Range), Aftab Bukhari was quoted as saying by PTI.
The road surface has become slippery due to the sharp drop in temperatures, the officials said.
On October 18 as well, the road remained closed for a day due to snowfall and nearly 100 passengers stranded due to the suspension of traffic were rescued on Wednesday.
Sonamarg-Zojjila road was also closed after the upper reaches of Zojila in Ganderbal district of Central Kashmir received fresh snowfall. “Snowfall in Drass and Sonamarg has led to closure of Sonamarg-Drass road,” an official said.
The weatherman has forecast improvement in the conditions later in the day and predicted a dry week.
