Srinagar: Rains lashed Kashmir Valley on Wednesday after three days of intermittent snowfall even as the minimum temperatures went down at all places except the summer capital Srinagar with the MeT department predicting mainly dry weather in the coming days.
Almost all places in Kashmir received rains during the night and no fresh snowfall was recorded from any part of the Valley, a MeT department spokesman said here.
He said the minimum temperature in all places in Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, went down with the exception of Srinagar, which registered an increase of 0.6 degrees in the night temperature as the mercury settled at a low of 1.2 degrees Celsius.
The city recorded 3.7 mm of rainfall, he said.
Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, received the highest rainfall of 27.6 mm and the mercury there settled at a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius a drop of nearly 10 degrees from minus 0.8 degrees Celsius the previous night, the spokesman said.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, the star attraction for tourists especially skiers from abroad, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, over four degrees down from minus 5.2 degrees Celsius yesterday.
The resort received 17.2 mm of rainfall till the morning, the spokesman said.
He said the mercury in Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu national highway dropped nearly 2 degrees from zero degree Celsius the previous night to settle at a low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius. The town received 14.6 mm of rainfall during the night, he added.
The spokesman said Kupwara in north Kashmir received 4.4 mm of rainfall and the town recorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius as against 0.4 degrees Celsius yesterday.
Kokernag hill resort in south Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius down by nearly three degrees from the previous night's minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said, adding, the town received 13.4 mm of rainfall.
Kargil in Ladakh region continued to be the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir as the night temperature there settled at a low of minus 15.6 degrees Celsius down by two degrees from the previous night's minus 13.5 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
He said Leh recorded a low of minus 10.8 degrees Celsius, a decrease of six degrees from yesterday's minus 4.9 degrees Celsius.
The MeT department has said though there were chances of light to moderate rains or snow at most places in the state today, the weather would remain mainly dry over the next few days.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which was closed for traffic yesterday due to heavy snowfall, was thrown open today.
"The highway was opened for one-way traffic and the vehicles were allowed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu," a Traffic Control Room spokesman said.
