Srinagar

Several places in the higher reaches of the Kashmir region experienced snowfall overnight, leading to night temperatures rising above the freezing point for the first time this month, officials said here on Sunday.

Snowfall was reported at Zojila Pass, Minamarg and Baltal along the Srinagar-Drass axis in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said snowfall was also reported from Tulail in the Gurez valley of Bandipora district.

For the first time this December, Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of 2 degrees Celsius against minus 2.9 degrees Celsius on Friday night, up by nearly five notches.

The night temperature was 3.2 degrees above the normal for this time of the season, weather department officials said. Pulwama was the coldest place in Jammu and Kashmir, registering a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius. It was the only place where the minimum temperature was below the freezing point.

A thick layer of fog engulfed Srinagar and most parts of the valley in the early hours of the day.

Qazigund and Kokernag in South Kashmir each recorded a low of 0.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum in north Kashmir's Kupwara settled at 1.2 degrees Celsius.

In Gulmarg, the minimum temperature settled at a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam, one of the base camps for the Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, logged a low of 2.4 degrees Celsius.

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Kashmir is inching towards 'Chillai Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period that sets in on December 21 -- when the chances of snowfall are the highest and the mercury drops considerably.

The meteorological department has forecast light rain or snow at scattered places of the Valley on December 20-21 when 'Chillai Kalan' sets in.