Kashmir Valley on Saturday received fresh snowfall, bringing respite from shivering cold conditions after nearly a fortnight resulting national highway closed.A meteorological department official said that Gulmarg, the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, recorded the highest snowfall of 25cms (10 inches) across the Valley till 0830 hours. Kupwara district recorded 7.5cms (3 inches) of snowfall while Srinagar, the summer capital of the J&K, had 0.2cms and Qazigund 0.8cms of snowfall respectively. There was negligible or no snowfall in other observatory stations of the local meteorological department, the official added.however, reports of snowfall, about 4 -5 inches, have been received from Sopore, Baramulla, Tangmarg and Bandipora in north Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the official said mercury settled at minus 2.0°C in Srinagar, recording an increase by almost four degrees from minus 6.1°C on the previous night and it was few notches above the normal for this time of the year.The minimum temperatures have consistently remained far below normal this season. Last week, Srinagar witnessed the season’s coldest night which was the chilliest one in more than 25 years. In 1991, Srinagar witnessed a low of minus 11.8°C while the lowest ever temperature was recorded on 31 January 1893 when the mercury had plummeted to minus 14.4 degrees Celsius.The minimum temperatures rose considerably in other parts of the Valley also, settling at minus 1.3°C in Pahalgam against minus 7.5°C on the previous night in the world-famous health resort. Qazigund, the gateway town of J&K, recorded a low of minus 4.0°C against 6.2°C on the previous night while Kokernag recorded a minimum of minus 4.5°C against 6.5°C on the earlier night.