The weather will continue to be wet and cloudy with chances of snowfall in the mountains and moderate rain in the plains till Tuesday morning: Meteorological department
Fresh snowfall in the higher reaches and rain in the plains brought the temperature in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday a western disturbance hit the region.
Snow being cleared from Mughal Road in Pir ki Gali area, in Poonch, on Monday. A meteorological department official said, “The weather will continue to be wet and cloudy with chances of snowfall in the mountains and moderate rain in the plains till Tuesday morning.”Put off crop harvest, says advisory
The official said that the minimum temperatures dipped across Jammu and Kashmir with Srinagar recording a low of 8.2°C on Sunday night. Gulmarg recorded a minimum of 2.2°C overnight, while it was 7.6°C in Kupwara.
The weather office advisory said farmers should put off crop harvest till Tuesday. “The precipitation may temporarily disrupt transportation, especially at vulnerable places such as Zoji La, Mughal Road, Sinthan Top and Sadnatop,” it said.
There was fresh snowfall at Pir ki Gali on Mughal Road, connecting Shopian district in South Kashmir with Rajouri-Poonch in the Jammu region.
Higher reaches and mountain passes, including Bungus and Sadhna Top in Kupwara, Gulmarg in Baramulla, Sonamarg in Ganderbal and Drass in Ladakh, also received fresh snowfall.
The Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed temporarily after a landslide in Banihal in the afternoon. According to a traffic police update at 4.30 pm, the road was opened after clearing debris.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and Bhairon Ghati temple also received rains on Monday.
Chopper and battery car services at the shrine were suspended in view of rains. The pilgrimage remained unaffected.
Gurez Valley in Bandipora district of North Kashmir received another spell of snowfall. The Bandipora-Gurez road was closed for movement. Drass in Ladakh received the season’s first snowfall.Pahalgam in South Kashmir recorded 17mm of rainfall in the morning.
A hailstorm on Sunday evening damaged to the crops and fruit trees in Kulgam and Shopian districts. Residents said heavy rain and hailstorm caused the maximum damage to the apple fruit that was ready for harvest.
“There was 9.8mm of rain in Srinagar from 8 am to 5 pm and 18.6 mm in Qazigund. Jammu recorded 56.8 mm rain, 28.2mm was reported in Banihal, 32mm in Katra and 37 mm in Bhaderwah,” the MeT official said.
MeT deputy director Mukhtar Ahmad said that the weather was expected to improve on Tuesday afternoon. “From Wednesday, the weather is expected to be fine for one week,” he said.
