After hailstorms and gusty winds at some places Sunday, the weather office here forecast improvement in the weather across the Kashmir Valley Monday.
"We had forecast well in advance that some places would be lashed with gusty winds and hailstorms. But, from Monday onwards, there would be improvement in the weather and increase in day temperatures," Sonam Lotus, director of the local weather office told IANS.
Due to the inclement weather, the minimum temperature at Gulmarg, a ski resort in north Kashmir, dropped below the freezing point Sunday night.
"The minimum temperature fell to minus 0.2 degree in Gulmarg today. The minimum was 9.4 in Srinagar, 6.2 in Pahalgam, 1.6 in Leh and 2.6 in Kargil town. There was 15.8 mm of rainfall in Gulmarg during the past 24 hours," said another official at the Met Office.
As the paddy sowing season is on across the valley these days, inclement weather is worrying the local farmers.
"It is this time of the season when paddy is sown in nurseries. Continuous rains and hailstorms are a matter of concern," said Ghulam Muhammad Rather, 42, a farmer in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.