A fresh snowfall was experienced in higher reaches as well in southern districts of Kashmir while as rains lashed plains on Tuesday, plummeting the temperature further in the Valley. The fresh snowfall also led to the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road connecting Kashmir with rest of the States.According to the wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), officials in the local Meteorological (MeT) department said that snowfall was witnessed in southern districts of Kashmir including Anantnag, Shopian and other districts since the wee hours.They said that it was predicted that heavy snowfall would occur in Chenab Valley while as light to moderate snowfall would be experienced in south Kashmir districts and light snow or rainfall in central as well as northern districts of Kashmir.However, spokesman said that Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory received a rainfall of 8.2 mm since early morning. MeT official further stated that Kokernag received a snowfall of 8.5 mm and rainfall of 8.2 mm, adding that Qazigund witnessed 1.5 mm snowfall and 10.8 mm rainfall today.
The spokesman further informed that Pahalgam, the famous tourist-resort here witnessed 4.6 mm rainfall and 3.5 mm snowfall while as Kupwara district in north Kashmir recovered 2.1 mm of rainfall and snowfall.The official also stated that the night temperature in Srinagar continued to witness improvement with the temperature on last night settled at 0.6 degree Celsius.Deputy Director MeT, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad told KNO that the weather would improve across Kashmir from Wednesday forenoon, saying that the weather would remain dry from next six to seven days from Wednesday forenoon. He said that the occasional sunshine would be witnessed in Kashmir from Wednesday morning.Meanwhile, officials said that traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended in view of the landslides at various points triggered by fresh snowfall. “The work to restore the highway is in full-swing and it is expected to clear the road by this evening,” an official said. (KNO)