Srinagar: Due to nightlong cloud cover, the minimum temperature in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar city rose above zero on Sunday as the Meteorological (MeT) Department forecast light rain/snow from December 30 to January 1.
Srinagar city had 0.8 degrees Celsius, Gulmarg minus 2.2 and Pahalgam minus 1.8 as the minimum temperature.
Jammu city had 8.1 degrees Celsius, Katra 8.2, Batote 6.9, Banihal 4.5 and Bhaderwah 1.6 as the minimum temperature.
The MeT Department has forecast cloudy weather till Monday. Light rain/snow is likely from December 30 to January 1.
From December 31 and January 1, light rain/snow at many places and moderate snow in the central and northern parts of the Kashmir Valley is expected.
The 40-day period of harsh winter cold known locally as the ‘Chillai Kalan’ started on December 21 and will end on January 30.
It is the heavy snowfall in Chillai Kalan that replenishes the perennial water reservoirs of J&K in the mountains. These perennial reservoirs sustain various rivers, streams, springs and lakes during the hot summer months. No snowfall during Chillai Kalan spells disaster as it foretells drought during the summer months.
A bountiful snowfall is, therefore, always welcome, and Kashmiris eagerly look forward to it. As New Year’s Eve revellers throng the Valley these days, all hotels in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam are fully sold out.
These revellers are also eagerly waiting for a good snowfall on New Year’s Eve to make their holiday memorable.
Elders in Kashmir still remember those long nights of Chillai Kalan when they would rise in the morning to see heavy snowfall outside. Icicles hanging from the roof eaves made a prismatic spectacle as sunlight passing through those icicles would split into various colours of the light. Heavy snowfall would block roads for days without end in those days, and locals depended on their homegrown vegetables, eggs from the small poultry each house would have and milk from the cow they would tend themselves.
(IANS)
