Kupwara Receives Highest Snowfall In Kashmir

Srinagar: Amid cloud cover, minimum temperature recorded further increase in Kashmir Valley on Friday after snowfall.

Kupwara in north Kashmir received highest snowfall of 20cms (7.87 inches) followed by Gulmarg (16.5cm), Qazigund(15.0cm), Pahalgam(10.0cm), Kokernag (5.0 cm), and Srinagar (3.0 cm) in last 24 hours till 0830 hours, mostly late in the afternoon on Thursday, a meteorological department official said . Ladakh’s Leh district also received traces of snowfall, he said.

Meanwhile most places recorded a rise in night temperature and for the first time in more than fortnight that mercury increased above normal in the Valley even though it hovered in sub-zero level.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.3°C against last night’s temperature of minus 3.2°C. The temperature was 1.8°C above normal for the summer capital, the official said. Srinagar has so far seen the coldest temperature this season on December 25 when mercury plummeted to minus 5.8°C.

Kashmir is under Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 is in its infancy, it does not mean an end to the winter. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1. (GNS)