Rain lashes plains, upper reaches get snow

Srinagar: Rain lashed plains while upper reaches accumulated fresh layer of snow since overnight, weather office here said Monday. However, despite the inclement weather conditions, there was no affect on traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link connecting Valley with rest of the world.The weatherman said that Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, recorded intermitted rainfall of 8.20mm from 0830 to 1430 hours. Qazigund, the gate town to Valley in south Kashmir, witnessed 10.5mm of rainfall followed by Pahalgam, the famous health resort in south Kashmir, which recorded rainfall of 8.0 mm during the time.Kokernag had 7.6 mm of rainfall while Kupwara, the frontier north Kashmir district, had highest amount of 16.6 mm downpour during the time.Jammu, the winter capital of the state, recorded rainfall of 6.3mm during the time, the weatherman said. Snow-draped Gulmarg witnessed fresh snow along with upper reaches of the Valley over. The world famous ski-resort had rain or snow equivalent to 19.0mm in 24 hours till 0830 this morning.Regarding the forecast for next 24 hours, the weatherman said that light to moderate rain or thundershowers with snow at higher reaches will occur at many places over the State.  Meanwhile, 300-kilometer Srinagar-Jammu highway remained open despite rainfall.An official of the traffic department said that the thoroughfare was open for both way traffic throughout the day.