Light to moderate snowfall was experienced in the hill resort of Sonamarg and adjoining high altitude areas on Saturday, unusual for this time of the season.
Light to moderate snowfall was experienced in the hill resort of Sonamarg and adjoining high altitude areas on Saturday, unusual for this time of the season, bringing cheer to tourists while heavy rains lashed rest of the Kashmir Valley pushing down the mercury.
Four inches of snow accumulated on the road in the main town of Sonmarg, 80 kms from here, officials said adding heavy snowfall was reported on Baltal-Amarnath cave route. The annual Amarnath yatra is scheduled to commence from June 15.
It is for the first time in four decades that the Valley has experienced snowfall in the month of June. The last time it received unseasonal snowfall was in 1969 when life
remained crippled for 15 days. Hotels in Sonamarg are bustling with tourists who are
enjoying their holidays and the unexpected snowfall has added to the fun.
Mushtaq Ahmed, owner of Sonamarg Glacier Hotelsaid his hotel is fully occupied.The snowfall preceded heavy rains which lashed Srinagar and rest of the valley this morning bringing an appreciable drop in the minimum temperature. The minimum temperature dipped to 10.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar from 19 degrees Celsius yesterday while 15.9 mm of rainfall was recorded till 0830 hours, the Met office said.
While Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir was lashed by heavy rains, its upper reaches also received light snowfall.The hill resort recorded 8.1 mm of rains till 0830
hours with minimum temperature settling at 9.8 degrees Celsius. The nearby Kokernag recorded a low of 7.6 degrees Celsius and received 12.3 mm of rains till 0830 hours.
Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded 29.3 mm of rains where the low temperature dipped to 9.8 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the highway town on Srinagar-Jammu National Higway, recorded a low of 11.0 degrees Celisus. It received 18.6 mm of rains till 0830 hours.
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