Fresh snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir affects rail, road traffic
Banihal-Baramulla rail services suspended, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road closed due to heavy snowfall; the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar highway crawled; IMD has predicted wet spell ahead
Fresh snowfall and light rains in Jammu and Kashmir prompted suspension of train services and closure of the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri (SSG) road on Thursday. The weather office has predicted more bouts of snowfall between January 20 and 23 besides spells of wet weather, especially in the higher reaches of the valley, soon.

The Himalayan valley received fresh snowfall in many parts, including in the tourist resorts of Pahalgam and Kokernag in south Kashmir, Sonamarg in central Kashmir and Gurez in north Kashmir.
The meteorological centre in Srinagar said that higher reaches of the valley in various districts experienced snowfall in the morning while the plains including summer capital Srinagar received light snowfall and rains. Jammu areas, including Pir Panjal range and Chenab valley, also experienced fresh snowfall.
Officials said the Banihal-Baramulla train services were suspended owing to the accumulation of significant snowfall on the tracks, particularly in south Kashmir areas. The traffic on 270-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway was running but with a slow pace.
“Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) is moving from both sides but with a slow pace because of heavy snowfall in Qazigund-Anantnag sector and Banihal side around Navyug tunnel,” the traffic police said in an update on ‘X’.
The traffic police advised people to avoid the journey if possible owing to the heavy snowfall. The update said that the snowfall closed the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road. Amid the snowfall and treacherous road conditions, police in Anantnag came to the assistance of commuters and patients stranded at various locations across the district.
“The feeble western disturbance was expected today and from early morning light snowfall was experienced in Jammu plains areas particularly in Pir Panjal and Chenab valley. In Kashmir, light snowfall was experienced from the morning particularly in south Kashmir and accumulated to a few inches,” said MeT director Mukhtar Ahmad.
He said that the weather is expected to be cloudy for the next three days followed by light precipitation in higher areas of north and central Kashmir from January 20 and 21.
The MeT predicted a moderate snow spell from January 22-23 in which light to moderate rains are expected in Jammu plains while its mountains like Pir Panjal and Chenab valley and the Kashmir valley areas will observe light snowfall.
Due to the cloudy weather conditions, the minimum temperatures across the Kashmir valley increased during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
The simmer capital Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of -2.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday night, up from the previous night’s -4.8 degrees Celsius.
In the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, the mercury plunged to a minimum of minus 7 degrees Celsius.
The southern resort of Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, up from minus 8.4 degrees Celsius the night before.
The valley’s harsh winter period (Chilai- Kalan) which started on December 21 will end by the end of January. This winter is expected to be harsher with some good spells of precipitation owing to the La Nina global weather effect.
