Fresh snowfall in hills of Kashmir, rains lash Valley

Fresh snowfall in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi
Fresh snowfall in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Feb 27: Higher reaches of Kashmir received fresh snowfall while rains lashed plains of the Valley with authorities issuing avalanche warning for the hills.
It has been raining in Kashmir valley for last over 24 hours while hills had fresh snowfall leading to drop in temperatures. The rains led to water-logging in several areas of Srinagar especially the low lying areas.
It was snowing in the hills since last night with Gulmarg recording 1.3 feet of snowfall, Baramulla 2 inches, Sadna Top 2 feet, Z Gali 1.6 feet, Keran one feet, Furqiyan 9 inches, Dawar, Izmarg and Tulail in Bandipora district one feet of snowfall. Sonmarg had six inches of snowfall.
Gulmarg, the venue for the ongoing second Khelo India Winter Games, recorded a low of minus 2.2 degree Celsius against minus 0.8 degree Celsius previous night.
The MeT official said that Srinagar recorded a low of 4.7 degree Celsius against 8.0 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 3.2 degree Celsius above the normal for this time of the year in Srinagar.
Qazigund recorded a low of 2.2 degree Celsius against 5.7 degree Celsius the previous night while it recorded 23.2mm of rainfall during the time.
Mercury settled at 0.3 degree Celsius at Pahalgam against 3.0 degree Celsius the previous night while the famous health resort had 18.5mm of rainfall during the time.
Kokernag recorded a low of 0.1 degree Celsius against 5.2 degree Celsius the previous night and had a rainfall of 31.4mm.

Incessant rains damage a house in Khahipora Rajwara area of Handwara.-Excelsior/Aabid Nabi
Incessant rains damage a house in Khahipora Rajwara area of Handwara. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

The minimum temperature settled at 0.7 degree Celsius in Kupwara against 4.4 degree Celsius the previous night and 45.4mm rainfall was recorded.
Sonam Lotus, Director Meteorological Department here, said that intermittent light to moderate rain in plains and snow over higher reaches of J&K was most likely to continue. “There would be significant decrease in rain /snow from tomorrow onwards,” he said, adding, “Hilly areas may receive snowfall up to half to one ft.”
The MeT office has forecast fresh isolated and scattered rains from March 3 onwards after dry weather for March 1 and 2.