Season’s first snow in Kashmir brings respite

SRINAGAR - The season’s first snowfall in Kashmir Thursday brought some relief from the intense cold in the valley.

“Till 7 a.m., south Kashmir’s Shopian town, Gulmarg ski resort and Sonamarg hill station had recorded a snow depth of one foot while in Pahalgam six to seven inches of snow were recorded on the ground,” a weather official here said.

A snow depth of two feet on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Bannihal area forced closure of the highway in the morning.

“The minimum temperature in Srinagar rose to minus 0.2 degrees Thursday in contrast to the last few weeks during which it had even slipped to minus 6.6 degrees,” the official said.

“In Leh also, the minimum temperature showed improvement. It rose to minus 11.4 degrees as against minus 16 degrees to which it has fallen early this week,” he said.

Kargil recorded a minimum of minus 10 degrees which is a shade better than the earlier recorded minimum temperatures in the town, the official said.

“Light to moderate snowfall is likely to occur across the valley during the next 12 hours,” he said.