Srinagar, Sep 17: A spell of unsettled weather brought rain and thunder activity to several parts of Kashmir during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, while fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of north Kashmir’s Gurez Valley further lowered temperatures in the mountainous areas.
Kabul Gali in the Tulail Valley of Gurez received a fresh layer of snow, covering the high-altitude landscape in white and bringing a marked change in weather conditions in the upper reaches.
The snowfall came amid a broader spell of rain and thundershowers across Jammu and Kashmir. The Meteorological Centre Srinagar had forecast rain and thundershowers from September 15 to 17, along with the possibility of thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds at a few places.
Srinagar and several other parts of the Valley experienced rain, lightning and thunder during the night, with the change in weather bringing cooler conditions across the region. The India Meteorological Department’s Srinagar station has forecast generally cloudy conditions with moderate rain for Thursday, with the minimum temperature expected around 10 degrees Celsius and maximum around 20 degrees Celsius.
The official Srinagar weather record shows the minimum temperature had already fallen to 12.9 degrees Celsius on September 16, the lowest recorded minimum of the month so far.
The fresh snowfall in Kabul Gali adds to the changing weather conditions in Gurez, where temperatures are considerably lower than in the plains and snowfall can occur much earlier at higher elevations.
The latest snowfall, however, is not the first snowfall of the season in Kashmir. The higher reaches, including the Tulail Valley and Kabul Gali area, had already received the season’s first snowfall in early September. Fresh snow was also reported from the Sonamarg-Zojila axis and other high-altitude areas at that time.
Kabul Gali, situated in the high-altitude Tulail sector, is among the areas of Gurez that experience early snowfall. The fresh accumulation has given the mountainous terrain a distinctly wintry appearance while signalling the continuing transition towards colder conditions in the upper reaches.
The weather change has also prompted caution among residents and travellers moving through mountainous areas, where visibility, road conditions and temperatures can change rapidly following rain or snowfall.
According to the latest forecast, weather conditions are expected to improve from September 18, with generally dry weather likely across Jammu and Kashmir through September 25, although isolated brief spells of rain cannot be ruled out.
The latest spell has meanwhile brought an early taste of colder weather to the higher reaches of Kashmir, with Gurez’s snow-covered mountains contrasting sharply with the rain-affected plains of the Valley. [KNT]
