Kashmir in October: weather, autumn colour, snow and roads

Is October a good time to visit Kashmir?

For settled weather, yes. The trade-offs:

• For: the driest weather and the least cloud of any month at all five weather stations below; warm afternoons in Srinagar; saffron flowering at Pampore; Srinagar’s chrysanthemum garden, open from 23 October in 2026; and the end of Srinagar airport’s 8 am–5 pm limit, withdrawn by 19 October 2026 ahead of the winter schedule from 25 October, with airlines filing slots for late-evening flights.
• Against: cold nights in the hills, averaging 2.6°C in Pahalgam and 3.8°C in Gulmarg, and snow that can close the high roads to Gurez, over the Mughal Road and over Sinthan Top at short notice.
• Not certain: which October you get. The first week of October 2025 turned cold and snowy, while the first week of October 2026 brought record heat. Both are in the timeline below.

The trade-offs of every other month are in the best time to visit Kashmir.

October weather by place

*Average day high and night low. Rain or snow is measured as water, and wet days have at least 2.5 mm. WMO Climate Normals 1991–2020 for the IMD stations at Srinagar (42027), Qazigund (42044), Pahalgam (42028) and Gulmarg (42026), published by NOAA NCEI. Kupwara (42031), in the north, has the same pattern: 23.8°C days, 5.2°C nights and 38.8 mm.

October is the driest month at all five stations, Kupwara included, and it has the least cloud cover of any month at each of them. The catch is the spread between day and night: in Srinagar and Pahalgam the average night is about 17°C colder than the afternoon.

The month also cools fast. Srinagar’s average day falls from 27.6°C in September to 23.0°C in October and 15.9°C in November, and its nights from 13.1°C to 6.2°C and then 1.2°C. The coldest October night in the Srinagar station’s record is −1.7°C, on 25 October 1934; Gulmarg’s is −6.5°C, on 30 October 1982. Every month is in Kashmir weather month by month.

October 2025 and October 2026, as reported

Averages hide how different two Octobers can be. The last two, from news reports:

1. 2–3 Oct 2025
   Light snow on the higher reaches of Gulmarg overnight, “the season’s first snowfall”, which “The Meteorological Department confirmed”, Kashmir Life reported. (Snow had already covered Sonamarg and the Zoji La in late August, according to Deccan Herald.)
2. 6 Oct 2025
   Snow on the passes and rain in the plains. Srinagar reached only “around 11 degrees Celsius”, down from 22.6°C the day before, and snow closed the Kishtwar–Anantnag highway (NH-244) at Sinthan Top, Greater Kashmir reported.
3. 7 Oct 2025
   Gulmarg fell to −0.4°C, “the first station in the Valley to record sub-zero temperatures this early in October”, with 14–18 inches of snow reported at Sinthan Top and 6–7 inches at the Zoji La, Greater Kashmir reported.
4. 4 Oct 2026
   The opposite: Srinagar reached 31.2°C, 5.7°C above normal and the second-highest October temperature recorded at the station, according to the Meteorological Centre’s director, Greater Kashmir reported. He blamed a dry spell. Qazigund’s 31.4°C broke its October record.
5. 13–15 Oct 2026
   Snow at Razdan Pass closed the Bandipora–Gurez road on the evening of 13 October, WION reported. It reopened on 14 October and closed again on 15 October, as below. Snow also briefly closed the Mughal Road on 15 October.
6. 23 Oct 2026
   The chief minister opened the Chrysanthemum Show 2026 in Srinagar, Kashmir Reader reported.
7. 24 Oct 2026
   Light snow at Sinthan Top in the early morning; officials said “traffic is so far moving smoothly”, Kashmir News Zone reported.
8. 25–31 Oct 2026
   Forecast: “Generally dry weather”, then “light rain and light snowfall over higher reaches” at a few places from 1 to 3 November, the Meteorological Centre Srinagar said, KINS reported on 23 October.

Will it snow in Kashmir in October?

On the high passes and peaks, quite possibly; in the valley’s towns, the averages can’t tell you, and we found no reliable count of October snow days. What the last two seasons show is that the first snow on the heights came before October in both:

So if you want to see snow in October, go high: Affarwat above Gulmarg and the Sonamarg–Zoji La road had snow in both autumns. When the first snow has reached Srinagar itself in recent years is in snowfall in Kashmir. For the winter ahead, Outlook Traveller reported that the MeT had said “the region could experience a relatively mild and dry winter in 2026-27 under the influence of El Niño, although one or two major snowfall spells during peak winter cannot be ruled out”.

Which roads close in October?

In the reports we found, none of these roads closed for the season in October, but snow shut them for hours or days at a time. The Mughal Road and the Sinthan Top road “usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter”, PTI noted when snow closed both on 21 December 2025, in The Week. This autumn and last:

• Gurez (Bandipora–Gurez road over Razdan Pass): closed by snow on the evening of 13 October 2026, reopened on 14 October, Greater Kashmir reported, and closed again on 15 October, ANI reported. Later that day it reopened “for vehicles travelling from Bandipora to Gurez” only, a Border Roads Organisation official told Kashmir News Service. We found no later report by 24 October. The drive is an estimated 5½–7¾ hours from Srinagar, according to the Go Kashmir app as of 24 October 2026. See the Gurez guide.
• Mughal Road (over Peer Ki Gali): about two to three inches of snow at Peer Ki Gali closed it on 15 October 2026, Asian Mail reported, and it reopened the same day after snow clearance, for light vehicles and heavy vehicles of up to 10 tyres between 7 am and 6 pm, according to Kashmir News Service.
• Sinthan Top (Kishtwar–Anantnag, NH-244): closed by snow on 6 October 2025; on 24 October 2026 traffic was moving despite light snow, both as above. Sinthan Top itself is on the official list of places closed to tourists.
• Zoji La (Srinagar–Leh highway): the snow of 6–7 October 2025 did not close it in the reports we found, but on 5 November 2025 the highway was closed after “Nearly nine inches of snow” at the Zoji La, an official told KNT, Morning Kashmir reported. See Srinagar to Leh by road.

When do the chinar leaves turn?

Through October and November, but in the last two years the colour and the falling leaves were reported in early November rather than October:

• 2024: on 4 November, Kashmir’s chinars “have begun to be decked in vivid red, gold, and green colours”, ETV Bharat reported, naming Nishat Bagh among the Mughal gardens; it described the view “in October and November”.
• 2025: a Gulf News photo story updated on 7 November showed ANI pictures of women tossing “dry Chinar leaves at Nishat Bagh as autumn paints Srinagar in brilliant shades of red, gold and amber”, and on 9 November PTI photographed fallen chinar leaves in a Mughal garden in Srinagar, in a picture carried by ETV Bharat.
• 2026: we found no dated report on this year’s colour by 24 October.

If the chinars are the point of your trip, those reports point to the end of October and early November rather than early October.

The saffron harvest at Pampore

Saffron is “cultivated mainly on the Karewa plateaus of Pampore”, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Greater Kashmir reported on 23 October 2026, and October is when its fields flower. “The flowers typically begin to bloom between October 10 and 15, and harvesting occurs regularly by November 15”, Bashir Ahmad Ilahi, head of the Saffron Research Station at Pampore, told ANI, in a report carried by The Tribune in October 2024. The flowers are harvested by hand, and their red stigmas are separated and dried to make the spice, Greater Kashmir’s report says.

• 2025: a poor bloom, “estimated at only 15 to 20 per cent of normal levels”, according to Abdul Majeed Wani, president of the Kashmir Saffron Growers Association, who blamed the previous year’s heat, Deccan Herald reported.
• 2026: after a dry spell through September and into October, rain “a few days ago” brought relief, and Pampore’s Karewa lands “have begun witnessing the emergence of saffron flowers, with harvesting expected to begin this week”, the same Greater Kashmir report said.

Pampore is an estimated 30–45 minutes by road from Srinagar, according to the Go Kashmir app as of 24 October 2026. The Tourism Department promotes saffron tourism through “the annual Saffron Festival in Pampore”, the chief minister told the Legislative Assembly in February 2026, Kashmir Life reported; we found no announced dates for a 2026 festival by 24 October.

What’s open in Kashmir in October 2026

• OpenDoodhpathri, reopened to tourists on 21 August 2026 after a weather closure, the Kashmir Observer reported. An estimated 1½–2 hours by road from Srinagar, according to the Go Kashmir app as of 24 October 2026; see Doodhpathri and Yusmarg.
• ClosedYusmarg, which “has been shut for tourists” during a security operation, the Kashmir Observer reported on 4 September 2026. We found no report of it reopening by 24 October.
• ClosedDachigam, listed as “Dachigam Area” on the official list; separately, entry to the national park was suspended until 31 October 2026 for the hangul’s rutting season, UNI reported on 12 October.
• NoteThe Gulmarg Gondola “shall remain closed on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month for preventive maintenance”, under a notice on the J&K Cable Car Corporation’s website shown from 13 July 2026. In October 2026 those are 12 and 26 October; if the notice still stands in 2027, 11 and 25 October. See Gondola tickets.

• Bagh-e-Gul-Dawood, the chrysanthemum garden: opened to the public on 23 October 2026 at the Botanical Garden, Chashma Shahi, in Srinagar, with “3.5 lakh locally produced plants representing more than 70 varieties” over 100 kanals, Kashmir Reader reported. “This is the second year of bloom at Bagh-e-Gul-Dawood in Srinagar,” the chief minister said; it first opened on Saturday 25 October 2025, according to Kashmir Reader. We found no published timings or ticket price.
• Flights: from April to October 2026 Srinagar airport was limited to 8 am–5 pm for runway work. That limit has been withdrawn, the winter schedule starts on 25 October, and airlines are “filing slots for late-evening flights”, the Kashmir Observer reported on 19 October. See the Srinagar airport guide.
• Gulmarg and Pahalgam: neither town is on the closed list. Gulmarg is an estimated 1½–2¼ hours by road from Srinagar and Pahalgam 2½–3½ hours, according to the Go Kashmir app as of 24 October 2026; near Pahalgam, Baisaran, Chandanwari and Tulian Lake are closed. See the Pahalgam guide.

Statuses change at short notice in autumn, so check on the day: the place card in Go Kashmir shows whether a place is flagged closed, with the date that was checked, next to a 4-day forecast.

First week or last week of October?

Sources for each row are in the sections above. The forecast is the Meteorological Centre Srinagar’s of 23 October 2026, as reported by KINS.

On the reports we found, the last ten days of October suit the saffron harvest and the chrysanthemum show better, and they are closer to the chinars’ early-November colour. The weather can turn in either week, as 6 October 2025 and 4 October 2026 show.

What to wear in Kashmir in October

Pack for two seasons in one day: afternoons in the low 20s in Srinagar and nights a few degrees above freezing in Pahalgam and Gulmarg. Kashmiris themselves were in woollens early in October 2025: “By the first week of October, mornings in Srinagar were biting, evenings demanded woollens”, and in upper regions “residents had already pulled out their Pherans”, Greater Kashmir reported on 7 October 2025. A Baramulla shopkeeper told the paper that “Since October 1, nights have been freezing in Tangmarg and Gulmarg”.

• Light layers for Srinagar afternoons, averaging 23.0°C.
• A warm jacket for evenings everywhere, and for any day in Gulmarg, which averages 14.2°C by day.
• Something waterproof: October is dry on average, but 6 October 2025 brought rain to Srinagar and snow to the passes.
• Warmer kit if you are heading up to Affarwat above Gulmarg, Sonamarg or Gurez, where snow fell in both of the last two Octobers.

October questions