Snowfall continues in Kashmir Valley forcing closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway

SRINAGAR: Intermittent snowfall continued in Kashmir Valley for the third day today forcing the closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway, even as the MeT Department here warned of heavy to very heavy snowfall in some areas of the state.

"Intermittent snowfall continued for the third day today with Gulmarg recording more than two feet of snow," a MeT department spokesman said.

He said reports of snowfall were received from most parts of the Valley.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded 1.7 cm of fresh snow during the night, the spokesman said, adding the mercury in city settled at a low of 0.6 degree Celsius, up by over a degree from yesterday's minus 1.0 degree Celsius.

However, the rate of the fall in the city increased since the morning.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, the star attraction for tourists especially skiers from abroad, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 5.2, a degree down from minus 4.2 degrees Celsius yesterday.

Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as the base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded 17 cm of snow and the mercury there settled at a low of minus 0.8 degree Celsius, compared to minus 0.6 degree Celsius the previous night, he said.

The spokesman said Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu national highway recorded a low of zero degree Celsius, same as yesterday, and the town received 8 cm of snow till this morning.