Weather to improve in J&K from Saturday

The weather across Jammu and Kashmir is likely to improve from Saturday as the Met Office said that the spell of rainfall in the state will end on Friday.

"Weather will start improving from tomorrow (Saturday) in Jammu and Kashmir. The moderate to heavy rainfall in the plains and snow in the higher reaches which had been forecast on Thursday would end on Friday evening," an official of the Met department told IANS here on Friday.

The minimum temperature was 5.8 degrees Celsius in Srinagar on Friday while it was 5.6 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam, minus 2.2 degrees Celsius in Gulmarg, minus 3.8 degrees Celsius in Leh town and minus four degrees Celsius in Kargil town of Ladakh region.

The official said the lowest minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar so far this season was 1.8 degrees Celsius on November 7.

The minimum temperature in different cities and towns of the Jammu region on Friday was 17.1 degrees Celsius in Jammu city, 8.4 degrees Celsius in Bannihal town, 8.5 degrees Celsius in Batote, 15.5 degrees Celsius in Katra and 8.5 degrees Celsius in Bhaderwah.

Heavy snowfall and highly slippery road conditions in Zojila Pass stretch of the over 400-km long Srinagar-Leh highway on Thursday again forced closure of the road.

Fresh snowfall in Pir Ki Gali area of the Mughal Road that connects Kashmir Valley with the Rajouri district of Jammu region has also halted traffic on this road link.

The Srinagar-Jammu highway, the main artery of supplies for the landlocked valley, was, however, open for traffic on Friday.