| Sun plays hide & seek after early morning rain, snow in Kashmir | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Jan 29 There was some respite from chilly weather conditions during the day as sun played hide and seek after early morning rain and snow in the summer capital, Srinagar and other parts
of Kashmir, where weather will be dry from Thursday onwards.
Border town of Kargil was the coldest place in the region at minus 21.9 degree followed by Drass, the second coldest place in the world, where the mercury improved about 5 degree from Tuesday and settled at
minus 16.1 degree.
A Met department spokesperson told UNI that fairly widespread light to moderate snow would occur on Tuesday in Kashmir under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which is active in the region.
However, he said the weather will turn dry from Thursday, which cloud result in improvement in the maximum temperature though the night chilly will intensify due to open skies.
The summer capital, Srinagar, turned white due to fresh snowfall since early morning on Wednesday, the last day of 40-day-long ‘Chalai-Kalan’, the severest period of winter which commenced from December 21 last year. ‘Chilai Kalan’ will be followed by 20-day-long “Chilai Khurd” and 10-day-long “Chilai Bacha” in the valley, where people are facing frequent power failure, coupled with bad roads.
Roof and tree tops, besides open fields and vehicle roofs had turned white when people woke up this morning in Srinagar, resulting in further chilly conditions disrupting normal life. All hills surrounding Srinagar also received fresh snowfall, clearly visible from civil lines and Boulvard and Dal Lake.
However, as the day progressed, bright sunshine greeted people in the city, resulting in melting of snow on roads, tree tops and rooftops.
During this Chilai Kalan, Srinagar received heavy snowfall, breaking about 30 year old record.
The world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, received fresh about 9 cm of snow overnight. The night temperature in Gulmarg, where the ski slopes are under several feet of
snow, improved about a degree from Tuesday and settled at minus 7 degree. Kongdori and Apharwat, the highest point of the cable car project in Gulmarg, also received snowfall overnight. “The weather is
dry though cloudy in the ski resort though the tourists are out on ski slopes enjoying different activities,” a hotelier told .
The mercury at world famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, also improved about a degree on Tuesday and settled at minus 2.8 degree, which is several degree above normal.
Pahalgam received about 11.5 cm during the last 24 hours.
The upper reaches in Pahalgam, including Chandanwari, received very light snowfall last night. Amarnath cave shine and its periphery, besides Sheshnag, Mahagung, Pisso top and Panjterni, also received light to moderate snowfall.
The night temperature at Qazigund, Kupwara in north Kashmir and tourist resort of Kokernag improved and settled at zero degree, minus 0.7 degree and minus 1.7 degree, respectively. |
|
