Srinagar- The ski-resort of Gulmarg and other higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, while rains lashed the plains, leading to the closure of the strategic Srinagar- Ladakh highway.
The fresh snowfall in the upper reaches started on Monday night, wrapping many hill stations like Gulmarg and Sonamarg under a thick white blanket of snow, officials said. In the plains, heavy rainfall plunged down the mercury by a few notches.
While light snowfall was reported on higher reaches, Srinagar received 1.8mm of rainfall overnight till 0830 hours today. Qazigund had traces of it while Pahalgam received 0.5mm, Kupwara 0.2mm and Gulmarg 0.8 mm, a meteorological department official said. He said rains eluded Jammu region as well as Kokernag.
Meanwhile, the official said, Srinagar recorded a low of 7.6°C against 3.9°C on the previous night. The temperature was 4.8°C above normal for the summer capital during this time of the year, he said.
Qazigund recorded a low of 8.0°C against 2.2°C on the previous night.
In Pahalgam, the mercury settled at 6.0°C against minus 1.1°C on the previous night and it was 6.3°C above normal for the south Kashmir resort, he said.
Kokernag recorded a low of 7.6°C against 5.1°C on the previous night and it was 3.3°C above normal for the place, he said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of 0.0°C against 2.5°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at 6.4°C against 3.8°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 4.0°C above normal for the north Kashmir place, he said.
The MeT department official said that on November 2-4, partly to generally cloudy weather is expected. “Light rain/snow may occur at isolated places, although chances are less.”
From November 5-8, he said weather is expected to be cloudy with scattered light to moderate rain/snowfall over middle and higher reaches. “There is no forecast of heavy snowfall. (forecast confidence upto 75%),” he said.
He said snowfall and low temperature during the day may lead to temporary disruption of surface transportation, mainly over Zojila, Sinthan Top, Mughal road etc. during November 5-7.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Leh road was on Tuesday closed for vehicular movement after fresh snowfall at Zoji La Pass, officials said.
“Traffic plying on Jammu-Srinagar NHW, Mughal road through. However SSG Road closed for vehicular movement in view of fresh snowfall in Zoji La axis,” Traffic police said in a tweet.
An official said that the highway has been closed keeping in view the slippery condition of the road.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir police traffic on its official twitter handle also confirmed that SSG road has been closed for vehicular movement.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kargil, Anayat Ali Choudhary said that the road is being cleared, and as of now, no vehicles will be allowed to move forward.
Meanwhile, a traffic official said that if weather improves tomorrow, vehicular movement on Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road shall be allowed from each side.
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