Srinagar, March 16 Most of the higher areas in Kashmir received moderate to heavy snowfall, while the plains experienced rain, disrupting traffic in some areas, officials said on Monday.
Several vehicles were stranded due to heavy snowfall along the Sinthan Top, after which police and the army carried out a rescue operation on Sunday night to evacuate 214 stranded tourists and locals, they said.
Officials said that the tourist resorts of Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, Doodhpathri in central Kashmir's Budgam district, and Sonamarg in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district received moderate snowfall.
They said that the higher areas, including Pir Ki Gali along the Mughal Road in Shopian district of south Kashmir, Zojilla, Gurez in north Kashmir's Bandipora, Sadhna Top in north Kashmir's Kupwara, and Sinthan Top, connecting Anantnag in south Kashmir to Kishtwar in the Jammu region, received heavy snowfall.
Sadhna Top received over 12 inches of fresh snowfall, while Sinthan Top received around six inches, they added.
The snowfall has led to the closure of vital road links in the valley, including the Gurez-Bandipora road, Sinthan-Kishtwar road, and the Mughal Road, the alternate road connecting the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region.
Traffic has also been suspended on the Srinagar-Leh highway due to snow accumulation at Zojila Pass.
The plains of the valley, including Srinagar, experienced rain, which continued intermittently until Monday morning.
Srinagar recorded 15.9 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
The Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, received 15.7 mm of rainfall.
The wet weather has led to a drop in temperatures across the valley.
Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 11.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, which was nearly four degrees lower than normal, officials said.
Other weather stations across the valley also registered below-normal temperatures.
The lower temperatures broke the trend of unusually high daytime temperatures that had been prevalent in the valley over the past few weeks.
The Meteorological Department has forecast erratic weather conditions until March 20.
It said that there is a possibility of a brief spell of light rain or snow in the higher areas, at isolated locations on Monday and Tuesday.
From March 18-20, the weather will remain generally cloudy with a possibility of intermittent light to moderate rain or snow at many locations.
The MeT Office said that another spell of rain or snow is likely on March 24-25, with light rain or snow in the higher reaches at scattered locations.
It said that there is a possibility of thunder or gusty winds, about 40-50 kmph, at a few locations on Monday, and March 18-20.
The weather office has advised farmers to suspend farm operations until March 20.
