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Flights cancelled, highway shut after whiteout in Kashmir Valley
While mountainous regions in Kashmir and Jammu divisions received heavy snowfall, the plains witnessed light precipitation.
With the Valley receiving widespread snowfall on Friday, flight operations were suspended at the Srinagar Airport, and the Srinagar-Jammu national highway – the only viable surface link to Kashmir – was closed.
While mountainous regions in Kashmir and Jammu divisions received heavy snowfall, the plains witnessed light precipitation. Meteorological department director Sonam Lotus said, “The southern resort of Pahalgam recorded the most snow (28 cm till 2.30 pm), followed by Kokernag (23 cm), Qazigund (10cm), Kupwara (5 cm), and Srinagar (2cm).”
Katra region in Jammu division received 19 mm rainfall, while Jammu received 5.5 mm rain. “We expect a gradual decrease in rain and snow. It is expected that the precipitation will stop at night,” Lotus said.
The Valley has been intermittently receiving light to moderate snowfall since January 8. Officials said traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway (NH-44) was suspended after snowfall made the mountainous road between Nowgam and Banihal slippery and also led to stone slides at Mehar, Ramban due to rainfall.
“Vehicles will not be allowed to ply on National Highway-44, the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gulmarg route and on Mughal Road,” the traffic department said in a tweet.
Air traffic at the Srinagar Airport was also suspended after snowfall intensified around 10-11am. Srinagar Airport director Kuldeep Singh Rishi said continuous snowfall at the airport prompted suspension of all operations after 10am.
“Only four flights could operate early in the morning. The remaining 66 flights (33 arrivals and 33 departures) were cancelled,” he said.
The temperature also improved slightly owing to precipitation at night. The MeT update said that Srinagar recorded a low of 1°C against last night’s minus 0.2°C.
The minimum temperature in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam was -2.4°C, while the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of -0.6°C.
The winter capital Jammu logged a low of 7.5°C, Banihal 0.2°C, and Bhadarwah -0.4°C.
The MeT office has primarily predicted dry weather between January 14 and 18 after which a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect J&K on January 19 and 20.
Kashmir’s is under the grip of harshest period of its winter which pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21(Chillai Kalan), followed by 20 more days that are less intense (Chillai Khurd), and finally 10 days of mild cold (Chille Bache).
November and December were dry for the most part, recording below average precipitation. The Valley recorded normal precipitation in monsoon after two years of deficit, while Jammu received surplus rain.
