Western disturbance reaches J&K, Snowfall expected over higher reaches on Dec 16: MeT

SRINAGAR, Dec 12: A feeble Western Disturbance (WD) is likely to hit on December 16 and can cause a brief spell of snowfall at isolated higher reaches of the Kashmir valley, officials said on Tuesday.
The meteorological office said there was a slight improvement in minimum temperature due to an approaching feeble Western Disturbance that may trigger a brief spell of very light snowfall at isolated extreme higher reaches of north & north eastern parts of Kashmir division during the night of December 16.
The dry weather with severe cold conditions is very likely to continue over most places in Jammu and Kashmir till December 21, the MeT office said, adding that “shallow to moderate fog is also likely to continue at many places in the Kashmir division.”
After experiencing the season’s coldest night at -4.8° on Monday, Srinagar recorded a low of -1.5°C on Tuesday, which was 0.5°C below normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir during this period of the season.
The maximum temperature recorded at Srinagar was 0.4°C above the normal of 10.6°C recorded on the previous day.
Pahalgam had a low of -1.5°C against the -4.7°C recorded the previous night. It was 2.3°C above normal for the south Kashmir tourist hot spot.
Qazigund on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway recorded a low of 2.6°C against the -3.4°C recorded the previous night, while Kokernag had a low of 2.3°C against the 2.4°C recorded a day ago.
The minimum temperature at the famous ski resort of Gulmarg was improved by a notch and recorded at -3.5°C against the -3.6°C recorded a day ago. It was 0.7°C above normal for the famous ski resort of North Kashmir.
The mercury at Kupwara was recorded at -2.4 °C, against the -4.0°C recorded the previous night. It was 0.7°C below normal for the frontier north Kashmir district, the MeT office said.