Snowfall disrupts air, surface transport
Srinagar, Feb 4: Kashmir, including the capital city of Srinagar, experienced a significant snowfall on Sunday, marking the most substantial snowfall of this season while the Meteorological Department predicted more precipitation during the next 24 hours.
The snowfall started late Saturday night, blanketing entire plains while higher reaches accumulated more snow.
The snowfall from light to moderate continued for the entire day intermittently.
The Meteorological Department (MeT) officials here said that the plains received 3 to 6 inches of snow while the middle and higher reaches of the Kashmir division received 8 to 12 inches of snow.
They said Srinagar recorded 5.3 cm of snow till 8:30 am.
The MeT officials said Qazigund received 10 cm, Pahalgam 12 cm, Kupwara 21 cm, Kokernag 11 cm, and Gulmarg 20 cm while Banihal received 11 cm and Batote and 0.5 cm.
The plains of Kashmir saw moderate snowfall, while heavy snowfall has been reported in the higher reaches.
Clearing snow from roads is underway so that vehicular movement is possible.
The traffic movement was slow as the roads were slippery.
The snowfall forced the cancellation of all inbound and outbound flights from Srinagar airport for the day.
The authorities issued avalanche warnings for hilly and mountainous areas of Kashmir, urging the residents to avoid unnecessary movement for the next 24 hours.
The snowfall has resulted in a rise in the minimum temperatures but the day temperatures have fallen in most places of Kashmir.
MeT officials said that Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.7 degrees Celsius against minus 1.7 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was normal for Srinagar for this time of the year.
They said that the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 7 degrees Celsius against minus 10.6 on the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 0.6 degrees Celsius.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius against minus 5.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The minimum temperature was 0.1 degree Celsius below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius against minus 8.3 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was 2.6 degrees Celsius above normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3 degrees Celsius against minus 5.4 degrees Celsius the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 0.6 degrees Celsius for the place.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.9 degrees Celsius against minus 2.4 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was 0.4 degrees Celsius above normal.
Jammu recorded a minimum of 9.6 degrees Celsius and it was above normal by 1.2 degrees Celsius.
Banihal recorded a low of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius, Batote minus 0.8 degrees Celsius and Bhaderwah 0.2 degrees Celsius.
The MeT officials said that on Monday, there would be partly to generally cloudy weather with the possibility of light snow over the isolated higher reaches while the weather is expected to be dry between February 6 and 13.
After Chillai Kalan, the 40-day harsh winter period ended on January 29, Kashmir is presently in the middle of a 20-day Chillai Khurd that ends on February 18 and would be followed by a 10-day Chillai Bachha which starts on February 19 and ends on February 28.
