Rain, snow in J&K provide respite from cold

Intermittent rain and snowfall provided some respite to people in Jammu and Kashmir from the winter chill as minimum temperatures rose across the state on Tuesday.

The local weather office forecast possibility of rain and snow on Tuesday as well after snowfall in higher reaches and rain in the lower hills on Monday ended the dry spell in the state.

Srinagar, which recorded 9.5 mm rainfall, witnessed a cloudy morning on Tuesday as the minimum temperature settled at 0.8 degree Celsius.

"There is a possibility of snow accompanied by rain in Srinagar city today (Tuesday). However, we are expecting a dry weather on Wednesday", an official of the local meteorological office told IANS here.

"There is a possibility of light rain accompanied by thundershowers at a few places in the Jammu region on Tuesday," he said.

In Ladakh region, chances of isolated rain and snowfall on Tuesday was predicted.

The famous ski resort and tourist destination of Gulmarg in Kashmir Valley received 53.3 centimetres of snow while the frontier district of Kupwara received the highest 31.8 mm rainfall.

Tourist destination of Gulmarg was coldest in the state at minus 5.8 degrees while Pahalgam recorded a minimum of zero degree on Tuesday.

Mercury dipped to minus 5.8 degrees in Kargil town of Ladakh region, while Leh town shivered under minus 5.2 degrees on Tuesday.

In Jammu region, Banihal town received the highest 11.1 mm rainfall, the weather official said.

The minimum overnight temperature in Jammu city, which received 1.2 mm of rainfall, was 10.2 degrees Celsius today.

In Jammu region, minimum temperature were 10.6 degrees in Katra, 5.3 degrees in Banihal, 5.1 degrees in Batote, 9.0 degrees in Udhampur, 4.0 degrees in Bhaderwah and 8.8 degrees in Kathua, the MET office said.

"The maximum day temperatures in Srinagar and Jammu city are likely to hover around 4 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively today (Tuesday)," it said.