Jammu and Kashmir receives fresh snowfall followed by rains, minimum temperature falls

With moderate to heavy rainfall in various regions, Jammu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Saturday following a dip in temperature throughout the valley. Along with that, Gulmarg in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir also received its first snowfall earlier this morning.

Apart from that, several areas of the valley including Pahalgam, Srinagar Sonamarg, Shopian, and Gurez also witnessed fresh snowfalls. While on the other hand, Ladakh has been also experiencing snowfall along with rainfall since Friday night. Minimum temperatures in the valley have dropped as Srinagar recorded 5.6 degrees celsius followed by Pahalgam and Gulmarg with 0.3 degrees Celsius and minus 1.5 degrees Celsius respectively. Earlier on Friday, Jammu recorded 15.4 degrees Celsius as the night's lowest temperature. 

Moderate rainfall in the Shopian district has also disrupted the traffic between Poonch and Rajouri in the Jammu region, reported ANI. Similarly, landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have disrupted the Jammu-Srinagar national highway further hampering restoration work on the highway. 

IMD predicts heavy rainfall and snowfall in J&K, Ladakh, and other parts

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall and snowfall followed by thunderstorms, gusty winds, and lightning at several isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Apart from that, it has also predicted the same for other regions like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and others on Saturday.

Apart from that, the ongoing rainfall in parts of Jammu and Kashmir will continue over the next 24 hours and an improvement can be seen from Sunday onwards. 

Earlier on Monday, heavy snowfall lashed several regions of Himachal Pradesh followed by the Manali-Leh highway further blocking several routes. The National Highway of Darcha-Leh is also blocked from heavy snowfall at Baralacha Pass. The massive snowfall reports have been coming since Monday, October 18. The officials of the area have advised tourists to halt all movement, The Rohtang pass is already closed for the visitors.

Additionally, parts of Himachal Pradesh are experiencing incessant rains since the beginning of the week causing disturbance to the normal life and bringing down the temperature by eight to 10 degrees Celsius. 

(With agency inputs, Image: PTI/ANI)