Temperatures dip after 3-day snowfall, rains

Srinagar, Feb 21: After over three days of snowfall and rains, the weather in Kashmir improved while flight operations resumed at the Srinagar International Airport on Wednesday.

Officials said that the flight operations at the Srinagar Airport were normal on Wednesday although several flights had been cancelled the day before due to adverse weather.

Both the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and the Srinagar-Leh road were impassable for vehicular traffic due to snowfall and rain.

Traffic officials cited landslides as a reason for the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and advised people to avoid travel on the highway until conditions improve.

Roads connecting Keran and Machil in Kupwara district, Anantnag, Simthan, and Mughal Road were also closed due to snowfall on Tuesday.

“Several train services were suspended on Wednesday due to accumulation of snow on the tracks,” Railway officials said.

The Meteorological Department (MeT) officials here said that widespread light to moderate rain and snow across Kashmir over the past 24 hours, with partly to generally cloudy weather prevailing currently.

The MeT officials said that Srinagar received 5.5 cm of snow in 24 hours till 8:30 am.

They said Qazigund received 34 cm of snow, Pahalgam 50 cm, Kupwara 5 cm, Kokernag 59 cm, and Gulmarg 40 cm of snowfall during this time.

The MeT officials said that Gulmarg ski resort, which received 130 cm of snow in the last 72 hours, recorded a low of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius against minus 4 degrees Celsius the previous night.

The temperature was below normal by 2.7 degrees Celsius for the ski resort in north Kashmir.

The MeT officials said that after snowfall and rains, minimum temperatures recorded a drop at most places in J&K with Gulmarg recording a low of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius. Srinagar recorded a low of 0 degrees Celsius against minus 0.7 degrees Celsius the previous night.

It was below normal by 0.9 degrees Celsius for this time of the year. Qazigund recorded a minimum of 0 degrees Celsius, the same as on the previous night and it was 0.1 degrees Celsius above normal.

Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius against minus 0.5 degrees Celsius the previous night and it was 2.4 degrees Celsius above normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius against 0.3 degrees Celsius the previous night and the temperature was below normal by 2.7 degrees Celsius for the place.

Kupwara recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, the same as the previous night and it was 0.1 degrees Celsius below normal.

Jammu received 5.6 mm of rain during the last 24 hours and recorded a minimum of 9.2 degrees Celsius and it was below normal by 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Banihal received 71.8 mm of rain in 24 hours and recorded a low of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius, Batote received 43.8 mm and had a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius while Bhaderwah received 27.4 mm of rain and recorded a minimum of 0 degrees Celsius.

No significant weather activity is expected until February 26, but there is a possibility of light to moderate rain and snow in fairly widespread areas from February 27 to 29.

The MeT office issued an advisory urging tourists and residents to follow Traffic Police guidance following heavy snowfall and cautioned against venturing into avalanche-prone and landslide-prone areas.