Higher reaches experience fresh snowfall, rain drenches plains

Srinagar, Nov 30: Rain-lashed plains and higher reaches experienced fresh snowfall on Thursday, even as the local meteorological department has forecast improvement in prevailing weather conditions from Friday forenoon in the Himalayan region, officials said.
Director Meteorological Department Srinagar, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad told Rising Kashmir that rain lashed plains and light snowfall occurred in higher reaches until Thursday night. Thunderstorms accompanied by strong gusty winds were also reported at isolated places in the valley, he said.
“On Friday, rain and snowfall will occur over higher reaches and light rain in plains in Kashmir. There will be an improvement in weather conditions from Friday forenoon,” he added.
The upper reaches, including Pir Ki Gali, Gulmarg, Doodhpathri, Sonamarg, Keran, Machil, Gurez, Drass, Zojila, Matayan, Gumri, Shaitani Nallah, and Sinton Top, experienced fresh snowfall, leading to a considerable drop in temperature.
The Meteorological Department also warned of potential disruptions in surface transportation over hilly areas and important passes like Zojila, Sinthan Pass, and Mughal road from late night on November 30th to December 1st forenoon.
The forecast for December 01 indicates partly to generally cloudy weather, with a significant improvement in minimum temperatures by 3-5°C until December 2nd, followed by a subsequent fall of 2-4°C.
In response to the rainfall, Srinagar recorded 0.5 mm, Qazigund had 10.4 mm, Pahalgam 2.8 mm, Kupwara 5.1 mm, Kokernag 2.0 mm, and Gulmarg 8.0 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours.
The cloudy weather led to a notable increase in night temperatures, with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam settling at 1.5 °C, and Gulmarg recording minus 1.0 °C as the minimum temperature. Kupwara and Kokernag recorded temperatures of 1.3 and 2.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The historic Mughal Road has been closed for traffic due to fresh snowfall while movement continues to remain suspended on the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road due to snow accumulation, officials said.
A traffic police official said that the Mughal road, which connects Shopian in Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu division, was closed for traffic after fresh snowfall. “Repair and maintenance work is currently underway on the road. It is advised to avoid traveling on this route,” he said.
The official said that traffic has not been released yet on the Srinagar-Leh road due to snow accumulation. “Clearance work is going on, traffic will be released after getting the green signal from BEACON authorities,” he added. However, traffic is plying both ways on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
A traffic police spokesman said traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu highway remained normal on Thursday, and vehicles were allowed from both sides to move to respective destinations. A traffic police spokesman said that subject to fair weather and better road conditions on Friday, LMVs (Passenger/Private Cars) / HMVs (Load Carriers) shall be allowed from both sides on Jammu-Srinagar NHW (NH-44) viz Jammu towards Srinagar and vice-versa. Commuters are advised to follow lane discipline, he said.
Director Srinagar International Airport Javid Anjum said there were no delays or cancellations for any flights at the airport. “All inbound and outbound flights proceeded as scheduled, and there were no disruptions or cancellations. There have been no issues reported regarding the landing and take-off of flights at the airport,” he added.