The higher reaches of Kashmir Valley received fresh snowfall on Thrsday while plains were lashed by rains leading to a drop of 11degrees Celsius in the day temperature here in Summer Capital Srinagar.Many places in upper reaches in Kashmir received fresh snowfall, while the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north experienced 11 inches of snowfall, MeT official informed CNS.Snowfall and rain were recorded in higher reaches of Kupwara, Gulmarg, Shopian including Mughal Road, Sonamarg, Z-Gali, Sadhna Top and Razdan Pass, the MeT department said.Many tourists were seen enjoying the snowfall in Gulmarg, the officials said.Most of the plains in Kashmir, including summer capital Srinagar, received rains since morning. While Srinagar recorded a rainfall of 17mm, Kupwara, in north Kashmir, received 23mm of rains, they said.Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir received 22 mm of rains, while Gulmarg recorded 26 mm of rainfall.
In Srinagar, the maximum temperature dropped 11 degrees Celsius from the normal due to the chill because of the rainfall.The maximum temperature recorded in the city was 4.3 degrees Celsius while the normal for this time of the season is 15 degrees Celsius, the officials said.The weather department warned of moderate to heavy rains with fresh snowfall over higher reaches in most parts of the Valley till March 19 (Saturday)."Under the influence of the weather system, moderate to heavy rain or thundershower and snowfall over higher reaches will occur at widespread places in Kashmir and Jammu regions and at many places in Ladakh particularly Kargil district," the officials said.They warned that the weather conditions may trigger landslide and blockage of road in vulnerable areas of the state particularly along Srinagar-Jammu, Srinagar-Leh and Leh-Manali highways. Meanwhile, the inclement weather has forced authorities to close down cross LoC trade for Friday. According, to Trade Facilitation Officer Uri, Syed Ishfaq Andrabi, “there have been landslides at various places on opposite side of the border, therefore we have closed trade for tomorrow.” “The road too has been closed.” Scores of passengers were stranded on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway in Uri town on Thursday morning when landslides hit NS Bridge. (CNS)