Snow on hills, rains lash plains in J&K

Srinagar, Dec 9 (IANS) Moderate to heavy snow and rain lashed Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday as the weather office forecast improvement from Thursday onwards.Fresh snowfall occurred during the night at the Zojila Pass, Pir Ki Gali, Bannihal sector, Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Gulmarg during the night.Srinagar-Leh highway and the Mughal Road are closed for traffic. Authorities have advised travellers to avoid travel on the Srinagar-Jammu highway because of adverse weather advisory."Snowfall occurred in higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir during the last 24 hours while rain lashed the plains. Same weather conditions will continue till tomorrow afternoon after which there will be overall improvement," an official of the MET department said.Srinagar recorded 2.2 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 0.4 and Gulmarg minus 2.0 as the minimum temperatures of the day.Leh town of Ladakh recorded minus 2, Kargil minus 4.8 and Drass minus 3.7 as the night's lowest temperatures.Jammu city recorded 13.6 degrees Celsius, Katra 12.5, Batote 5.1, Bannihal 4.4 and Bhaderwah 4.2.
--IANS sq/in