Fresh snowfall pushes mercury up in Kashmir
Air traffic disrupted, restored; 14 flights cancelled
Perched atop a wooden ledge, a kingfisher waiting for ‘its moment’ – to spot a fish it could prey upon in the frozen and snow covered waters of Dal Lake. PHOTO/Javed Khan
Srinagar: Most parts of Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Wednesday, resulting in significant improvement in the minimum temperature across the Valley and providing huge relief to residents.
The snowfall began during the night and continued at many places when last reports came in, the officials said.
The snowfall affected the flight operations at Srinagar airport in the morning, causing some flight delays.
The flight operations were hampered due to the accumulation of snow on the runway and poor visibility due to the bad weather. However, the air traffic was later restored.
“Flight operations at the Srinagar Airport were delayed because of light snowfall and less visibility in the morning. Out of 28 flight movements only 14 flights operated and 14 flight movements were cancelled,” the Airport officials said.
The MET Office said the ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, received about six inches of fresh snowfall, while Kupwara, also in the north, recorded about three inches.
Other places, including Srinagar, experienced very light snowfall, the officials said.
They said there are reports of fresh snowfall in many other areas in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir.
The fresh snowfall, however, did not affect the movement of traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
An official of the traffic control room said the highway was through for one-way traffic from Srinagar towards Jammu.
The minimum temperature across the Valley rose significantly on Tuesday night, providing huge relief to residents.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius last night – over four degrees up from the previous night’s minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.
Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.9 degrees Celsius – over five degrees down from the previous night’s minus 9.3 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature at the Gulmarg skiing resort, in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, settled at minus 5.2 degrees Celsius last night – up from minus 7 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The resort was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.
Qazigund – the gateway town to the Valley – recorded a minimum of 2.8 degrees Celsius – up from minus 4.5 degrees Celsius the previous night, they said.
Kupwara town, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag, in the south, minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.
The MET Office has forecast the possibility of light to moderate snow/rain at scattered to fairly-widespread places of J&K till Thursday.
