Srinagar: The weather department here on Saturday revised the forecast, now predicting fairly widespread snowfall and rain in Jammu and Kashmir from February 9 to 11.
On Thursday, the department had said that mainly dry weather was expected for two weeks. However, it said that while the weather was expected to be partly cloudy till Sunday, there was a possibility of light snow over higher reaches of Kashmir on Monday.
Also, it said, the weather was expected to be partly cloudy on February 7-8. “Light to moderate snow/rain was expected at many places during February 9 (night) -11th,” a meteorological department official said.
Meanwhile amid cloud cover, the minimum temperature saw an increase except at a few places with Srinagar recording a low of 0.4°C against minus 0.6°C on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 1.1°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 3.0°C against minus 2.6°C on the previous night and it was 0.9°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 0.9°C against minus 1.5°C on the previous night and it was 5.2°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.8°C against minus 2.7°C on the previous night and it was 0.6°C above normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 5.5°C against minus 7.0°C on the previous night and it was 2.1°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 1.8°C against minus 0.8°C on the previous night and it was 4.1°C above normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 8.9°C against 7.2°C °C on the previous night. It was 0.5°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal, he said, recorded a low of 1.8°C (above normal by 1.0°C), Batote 5.8°C (above normal by 3.7°C), Katra 9.5°C (2.5°C above normal) and Bhadarwah 2.4°C (3.0°C above normal).
Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 8.0°C and minus 13.2°C respectively, the official said. While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, Kashmir is under the grip of a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.

KR Desk