Snow, rain lift Kashmir temperatures; Srinagar logs warmest night of winter

A soft winter thaw brushed across Kashmir on Sunday as snowfall in the upper reaches and steady rain in the plains nudged temperatures upward, gifting Srinagar its warmest night of the season even as Chillai-Kalan — the Valley’s harshest 40-day winter stretch — settled in.

The minimum temperature in the summer capital rose to an unseasonably mild 4 degrees Celsius, six notches above the seasonal norm, officials from the local meteorological department said. The rise came despite fresh snowfall in the mountains and rainfall across the plains, a combination that ended weeks of parched weather and brought welcome relief to the Valley.

Meteorologists attributed the warmer night to a blanket of overcast skies, which acted like a thermal shield, trapping heat close to the ground.

Gulmarg, the famed ski resort in north Kashmir, stood alone among weather stations in recording sub-zero temperatures. Even there, the mercury dipped only to minus 1.5 degrees Celsius — a reading still about five degrees above normal for this time of year.

Elsewhere, the chill was gentler. Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and other parts of the Valley reported minimum temperatures ranging between 2.5 degrees Celsius and 3.8 degrees Celsius, underscoring the widespread moderation in nighttime cold.

Looking ahead, the weather office has forecast moderate to heavy snowfall across the higher reaches in the coming days, with light to moderate precipitation expected in the plains — a reminder that winter’s embrace, though momentarily softened, is far from loosening its hold on Kashmir.

With PTI inputs