Srinagar: Kashmir Valley witnessed fresh snowfall on Tuesday with many places recording sub-zero temperatures.
Amid heavy cloud cover, there was a light snowfall in Srinagar where minimum temperature settled at 0.0°C, according to MeT Department officials. The snow recorded in 24 hours till 0830 hours was equivalent to 0.8 mm in Srinagar, while Gulmarg received 23mm fresh snow, highest across Kashmir Valley.
Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort recorded a low of minus 7.5°C against minus 6.5°C on the previous night, officials said. Pahalgam, the famous tourist destination in south Kashmir, recorded minus 3.0°C against minus 1.3 °C on the previous night. Qazigund recorded minus 0.4°C and received snow or rain of 1.8mm, Kupwara minus 1.0°C and rain or snow of 2.4mm and Kokernag minus 3.0°C and rain or snow of 0.5mm.
Kashmir is in the middle Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day winter period which commenced on December 21 and ends on January 31. The period is considered the harshest of the winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum.
The cold wave, however, continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
The weatherman has forecast light rain or snow over Jammu and Kashmir in the next 24 hours.
