Srinagar: Rains and snow lashed Kashmir Valley as Pahalgam received nearly 3 inches of snowfall, officials said. A meteorological department official here said amid cloud cover, there was also increase in night temperature across Jammu and Kashmir. He said Srinagar received 2.6mm of rain since overnight till 0830 hours and recorded a minimum of 1.0°C against previous night’s minus 2.0°C. It was below normal by 0.5°C for the summer capital of J&K for this time of the year, the MeT official said .Qazigund received 0.4mm of rain and recorded a minimum of 1.2°C against minus 2.2°C on the previous night and it was 0.8°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said.Pahalgam received 7.4cms of snow and recorded a low of minus 1.3°C against minus 7.0°C on the previous night and it was 2.2°C above normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, received 0.6mm of rain and recorded a minimum of minus 0.3°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night and the temperature was below normal by 0.4°C for the place, the official said.Kupwara town received 1.0mm of rain and recorded a low of 0.4°C against minus 3.5°C on the previous night and it was 3.5°C below normal there, the official said.Gulmarg received 4.0 cms of snow and recorded a low of minus 6.4°C against minus 9.0°C on the previous night. The temperature was below normal by 0.6°C for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir.Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 9.9°C and it was below normal by 1.7°C for the winter capital of J&K.Banihal recorded a low of 3.8°C, Batote 4.8°C and Bhaderwah 3.4°C, he said.Regarding the forecast, he said, on February 28-29, partly to generally cloudy weather is expected with possibility of light rain and snow at isolated places.From March 1-3, he said, there is possibility of light to moderate rain and snow at most places with heavy rain and snow at few middle and higher reaches during March 2 and 3. “Few places may experience thunder/lightning/hailstorm accompanied by gusty winds during the period.”While ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day harsh period of winter ended on January 29 and 20-day-long winter period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ ended on February 19, Kashmir is the middle 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which culminates on March 1. (GNS)

Reader correspondent