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Snow effect: Mercury nosedives in Kashmir
The meteorological centre at Srinagar said that the Sonamarg tourist resort in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district registered at -15.1 °C, lowest in all of the weather monitoring stations
A day after Kashmir got widespread snowfall, the mercury took a deep dive in the Valley on Friday, breaking records in some parts.
The meteorological centre at Srinagar said that the Sonamarg tourist resort in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district registered at -15.1 °C, lowest in all of the weather monitoring stations.
The MeT said that the ski resort of Gulmarg, which has been witnessing intermittent snowfall since Monday, recorded a minimum temperature of -12°C. Pahalgam registered a low of -11.9°C, breaking a record of the past four years. According to MeT data, the temperature had gone down to -12.6°C in Pahalgam on February 2, 2020.
“It was a cold night with temperatures going several degrees below normal in most of the places. The mercury went 4.4 notches below normal in Gulmarg and 5.8 notches below normal in Pahalgam,” said meteorologist Mohammad Hussain Mir.
The meteorological update said that the gateway to Kashmir in South Kashmir, Qazigund recorded a minimum of -9.4°C, a departure of 7.3 degrees from normal. Kokernag in south Kashmir also recorded a low of -9.4°C.
The MeT data revealed that Qazigund had recorded its lowest temperature of -16.7°C on February 3, 1967.
The MeT said that Friday will witness generally dry weather with possibility of light snow at isolated higher reaches.
Meteorologist M Hussain Mir said that the minimum temperatures will improve as another western disturbance is approaching J&K from February 3. “There is a possibility of light to moderate snow and rain at many places of J&K on Saturday and Sunday. Then the weather will improve for a week with dry conditions,” he said.
Jammu-Srinagar NH partially restored, traffic being cleared: Cops
After a disruption on Wednesday and Thursday, the traffic was partially restored on 250 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Friday afternoon.
“Vehicles that were stranded on the highway are being cleared and no fresh traffic is being allowed,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP NH traffic) Rohit Baksotra.
Traffic movement on Jammu-Srinagar national highway (NH 44), the only all weather surface link that connects Kashmir with the outside world, was snapped on Thursday following heavy rains and snowfall in the region.
The rains and snow had triggered landslides, mudslides and shooting stones at various places on the highway in Ramban district.
“The 30-metre stretch at Sher Bibi has been partially restored and vehicles are taking turns to negotiate the stretch. There is still snow in Banihal area. For now, we are clearing stranded vehicles. No fresh traffic is being allowed,” the SSP added.
He said that affected stretches at Dalwas and Mehar were cleared but the highway was still not fully fit for resuming fresh traffic from Jammu and Srinagar.
Around 1,100 vehicles were stranded between Banihal and Udhampur due to inclement weather on Thursday.
“Traffic update at 1500 hrs. Jammu Srinagar NHW partially restored, stranded vehicles are being cleared. Commuters are advised to drive with cautiously, as part of road near Sherbibi is single lane & also slippery at a number of places,” J&K traffic police said in a post on micro-blogging platform “X”.
