A late winter in Srinagar?

Srinagar received the first winter snow on January 29 this year. A little late, you may think, for somewhere 1600m above sea level and close to the Himalayan Plateau.

Surprisingly, the average temperature in late January is 10C by day and around freezing at night. But, averages are there for long term comparison and of course, when it snows, it’s cold.

January 29 was a tease, it wasn’t until the start of February that it got properly cold. It snowed on the first three days of the month, finally stopping at dusk on February 3. The temperature hasn’t risen above 5C yet this month.

The consequence of this snow was that the Jammu-Srinagar highway, that connects the Kashmir valley to the rest of India, was closed to traffic.

This was “due to fresh snowfall and slippery road conditions in Jawahar tunnel and Patnitop areas,” said officials at the Police Control Room in Jammu.

The ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded more than 45cm of snow, bringing cheer to the local residents and tourists. Snow has ceased now in both town and resort, the sun is back and life is back to normal.