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Written by: Press Trust of Kashmir

Category: ENVIRONMENT

Published: 12 June 2019

SRINAGAR: As other parts of the country prepare to face harsh weather - rains or heat - fresh snowfall in the middle of the month of June has been witnessed in Sonamarg, Kashmir. Widespread rain and snow was also reported in Drass, Kargil, Zojila, Zanskar in Ladakh division.

Fresh Snowfall in the picturesque Sonamarg area of Kashmir's Ganderbal district, with the white blanket making it look like winter wonderland despite it being peak Summer. A little vegetation can also been midst of the snow.

Jammu & Kashmir Tourism on twitter said Jammu and Kashmir has a centuries-old history of being called heaven on Earth, so much so that when Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor, visited Kashmir in the 17th century, it was he who is believed to have said “Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin asto” while in a house-boat in the iconic Dal Lake of Srinagar. The quote means 'if there is a heaven on Earth, it is right here in Kashmir'. He is also believed to have often said that if someone has not visited the heavenly beauty, they really are missing out on something spectacular.

It’s been raining since yesterday in the lower reaches, in accordance with the Met department's predictions of rains in the valley. However, local reports said that the temperature dipped lower than the freezing point at certain areas of Central Kashmir like Baltal, Zojila and Sonmarg, as a result of which they received a fresh round of snowfall since last night that continued till morning today.

The month of April marks usually the onset of summer in Sonmarg which continues in the month of June. The climate varies between pleasant conditions to moderately hot. The minimum temperature is usually 9-degree centigrade on an average and the maximum is around 34-degree centigrade. But surprisingly snowfall has started in the middle of June in the Valley.

Many apple orchards in low lying areas have been inundated by flash floods in Baramulla and Bandipora districts. Flash floods have also hit Sukhnag Nallah in Badgam district. Weather office has forecast improvement in weather conditions from later in the day.

"Weather will start improving from today evening. We are expecting sunny weather from tomorrow in the Valley. Minimum temperature was 10.5 degrees Celsius in Srinagar, 6.6 in Pahalgam and 5.0 in Gulmarg today. "Leh town of Ladakh division recorded 8.0 as the minimum temperature today", officials of the MET department said.