Fresh snowfall ushers in New Year at Kashmir tourist hotspots

Kashmir rang in the New Year amid fresh snowfall at popular tourist resorts and higher reaches of the valley, with the meteorological department forecasting an improvement in weather later in the day, officials said on Thursday.

Tourist resorts including Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg received fresh overnight snowfall that continued till Thursday morning, drawing large numbers of revellers, they said.

Several higher reaches -- Tulail Valley in Gurez, Razdan Top in Bandipora, Macchil and Sadhna Top in Kupwara, and Zojila Pass -- also received fresh snowfall, officials said.

They said there was a possibility of light rain/snow showers in some areas as the trailing part of a prevalent western disturbance moves away by the evening, leading to gradual improvement in weather.

A brief spell of light rain or snow may, however, occur at isolated places on Friday.

Due to a cloud cover, the night temperatures remained higher than the seasonal average and settled above the freezing point at most places, officials said.

Despite the fresh snow, the valley continues to experience an unusually warm winter, with temperatures hovering 1.2 to 6.3 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average, officials said.

On Wednesday night, Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius, which was 4.6 degrees Celsius above the normal for this time of year, they said.

Gulmarg remained the coldest location in the region with the mercury settling at minus 5.5 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees below the previous night, officials said.

In south Kashmir, Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, 6.3 degrees above the normal temperature, and Qazigund, the gateway town of the valley, saw the mercury settle at 2 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal.

The region is currently going through 'Chilla-e-Kalan', a 40-day period of extreme cold. During this phase, night temperatures typically drop several degrees below the freezing point. However, current readings show a departure from normal patterns.

During this period of extreme weather, the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum as well. However, the plains of the valley have not received any snowfall so far this season.