Rain and snow ends dry spell in J&K

Srinagar : Nightlong rain and snowfall on Wednesday finally ended an over-six month long dry spell in Jammu and Kashmir, the weather office said. Moderate to light snowfall occurred in the higher reaches of the state while rain fell in the plains in the last 12 hours, it said. "Weather will remain wet with widespread rain and snow here from Wednesday to Saturday," said an official of the MET department. Snowfall in mountain passes closed the Srinagar-Leh, Bandipora-Gurez and the Mughal road that connects the valley with Rajouri in Jammu region. While snow in the ski resort of Gulmarg prompted many tourists to extend their stay, hoteliers at the resort said. There was snowfall in Pahalgam and Sonamarg hill stations while Srinagar received rain. Even the plains of Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Badgam districts received some snow during the night. The minimum temperature recorded in the night was minus 0.1 in Srinagar, minus 3.6 in Gulmarg, 12.1 in Jammu, 11.7 in Katra, 4.1 in Batote, 3.4 in Bannihal, and 3.0 degrees Celsisus in Bhaderwah, the official said. -Agency