Snowfall in Sonamarg, night temperature rises at several places in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir’s Sonamarg tourist resort recorded light snowfall for the second day on Friday while the Meteorological Department forecast significant improvement in weather across the Union Territory, officials said.

The three-week dry spell in Kashmir ended on Thursday with snowfall in the higher reaches of the Valley and rains in the plains.

While snowfall was recorded in Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Sonamarg in central Kashmir and other areas in the middle and higher reaches on Thursday, light snowfall continued in Sonamarg, in Ganderbal district, on Friday morning as well, the officials said.

The Met Office said several places experienced partly to generally cloudy weather with light snow over Sonamarg and adjoining areas.

However, it said, there would be a significant improvement in the weather towards the afternoon over most places and the weather is likely to remain dry ahead.

From December 2 to 7, the weather would remain partly cloudy, while from December 8 to 10, it would be partly to generally cloudy, the officials said.

There would be a fall in the minimum temperature by three to five degrees, they said.

The night temperature rose significantly at several places in the Valley with Gulmarg being the only weather station where the mercury settled below the freezing point on Thursday night.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was 4.5 degrees Celsius while Qazigund recorded a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius.

Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district recorded a low of 0.5 degrees Celsius while the mercury in Gulmarg settled at minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.