Fresh snowfall on upper reaches, Harwan, rain in plains

Srinagar, Apr 4 :Harwan hills in the city outskirts and upper reaches in the Kashmir valley, including Gulmarg heights, experienced fresh snowfall while plains, including summer capital, Srinagar, had rains, resulting in cold.The Harwan hills had turned white, visible from a distance, as the people woke up this morning.Tree tops were also covered with snow presenting a magnificent look from nearby areas this morning.The Apharwat, Khilanmarg and other heights experienced fresh snowfall last night, a hotel owner told UNI over phone from world famous ski resort of Gulmarg today.He said the entire belt received few inches of fresh snowfall while Gulmarg slopes, still under several feet of snow, had rains.The sky was heavily cloudy, he said.The other upper reaches, including Sadhna top, Razdan pass, connecting villages near the Line of Control (LoC) with the rest of the state, also received fresh snowfall last night.Fresh snowfall was also recorded at Keran, Karnah, Machil and Neeru resulting in cold in the entire belt.Sonmarg, the famed tourist resort on Srinagar-Leh national highway, also received fresh snowfall. Sonmarg road was recently opened for traffic after remaining closed since December last year.However, the road remained open, a tourist official said adding hundreds of tourists were visiting the place daily.The upper reaches in Pahalgam, the base camp of holy Amarnath cave, also experienced snowfall last evening and this morning.Moderate to heavy snowfall was received at holy Cave and its periphery. Reports of snowfall were also received from Sheshnag, Mahaguns, Pisso top and Panjterni while rains lash Pahalgam, where the minimum temperature recorded was 4.4 degrees Celsius this morning.Srinagar and its adjoining areas recorded 14.4 mm rainfall till 0830 hrs today. However, the minimum temperature 7.9 degrees was still twodegreesabovenormal.But icy cold winds, originating from upper reaches because of fresh snowfall, forced people to wear warm cloths.However; there was some relief as sun came out behind the clouds as the day progressed.People in Ladakh region continued to feel the cold as the minimum was recorded one degree at Leh while it was three degrees in Kargil.The situation was no good in upper reaches where it was between minus 1 degree to minus 5 degree this morning. (UNI)