Published 13:44 IST, December 11th 2019
Higher reaches of J&K, Ladakh receive snowfall
The high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh received light snowfall even as night temperature continued an upward trend due to overcast conditions
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The high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh received light snowfall on Wednesday even as the night temperature continued an upward trend due to overcast conditions across the region, a meteorological department official said. The department has issued an orange warning for the twin Union Territories for Thursday and Friday, predicting moderate to heavy snowfall and rain under the influence of western disturbance which had hit the region.
Snowfall in high altitude areas in Jammu and Kashmir
"Light snowfall occurred at high altitude areas including the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Pahalgam in south and Sonamarg in central Kashmir," the official said.
He said the visibility in Kashmir, where all flights to and fro Srinagar airport were cancelled for the past four days due to dense fog, improved slightly and expected to improve further in the coming days.
"The weather is cloudy and foggy in plains of Kashmir and partly cloudy in Jammu and Ladakh. Moderate snow is expected in plains of Kashmir, moderate to heavy snow on higher reaches of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh mainly during December 12 and 13," the official said, adding plains in Jammu are likely to receive moderate to heavy rain on December 12 and 13.
Due to overcast conditions, the night temperature across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh marked an improvement and settled close to the season's average after hovering several degrees below normal during the past week. Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, continued to be the coldest place in Ladakh with a low of minus 15.3 degrees Celsius against the previous night's minus 19.0 degrees Celsius. Leh recorded an improvement of over two notches in the night temperature which settled at minus 11.5 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature also improved in Srinagar, which was reeling under dense fog and cold wave conditions over the past week, to settle at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius -- 0.8 degrees below normal during this part of the season, the official said. The city had recorded a maximum of 3.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the lowest so far which was seven notches below the season's average. The winter capital, Jammu, recorded a near-normal night temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding the day temperature in the city had marked improvement on Tuesday and settled at 19.4 degrees Celsius against the previous day's 16.7 degrees Celsius.
Gulmarg ski resort recorded as the coldest place in the valley
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 2.3 in Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, the official said. Katra, which serves as the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of the Jammu region, recorded a low of 8.7 degrees Celsius, he said, adding the Bhadarwah township of Doda district was, however, the coldest recorded place in the region with a minimum of 2.8 degrees Celsius.
13:30 IST, December 11th 2019