Srinagar: Snowfall on Monday affected normal life, causing traffic disruptions as well as bringing substantial decrease in day temperature.
The snowfall started late last night in Srinagar, draping the summer capital of J&k in white blanket. Elsewhere also, it started during the same time. The snow accumulation caused traffic disruptions, causing commuters difficulties in reaching their destinations. Lack of adequate traffic on roads added to woes. The authorities in the morning had cleared most of the main roads of snow but the continuous fall kept snow piling up, causing the traffic to slow down across the length and breadth of the Valley.
A MeT department official here told GNS that Srinagar received 29.5cms of snow since overnight till 1730 hours today, Qazigund 22cm, Pahalgam 41.1cm, Kupwara 19.5cm, Kokernag 18.5cm and Gulmarg around 2-ft besides Bhaderwah 5.3cm.
He said there was a substantial drop in the day temperature and all stations in Kashmir recorded far below normal mercury.
Srinagar, he said, recorded maximum of 1.6°C, below 5.9°C than normal, Qazigund 1.6°C (below 5.6°C), Pahalgam 1.0°C (below 1.4°C), Kupwara 1.5°C (5.9°C below), and Gulmarg minus 2.0°C (2.5°C below).
Regarding night temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.2°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 0.8°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 0.1°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night and it was 2.5°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 1.4°C against minus 5.6°C on the previous night and it was 4.7°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.8°C against minus 2.7°C on the previous night and it was 1.8°C above normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 4.6°C against minus 7.2°C on the previous night and it was 2.9°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 0.4°C against minus 1.0°C on the previous night and it was above 2.1°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu received 8.9mm of rain during the 24 hours and recorded a low of 10.4°C against 7.6°C on the previous night. It was 1.7°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal received 25.5mm of rain and recorded a low of 0.2°C (above normal by 0.4°C), Batote received 43.6mm and recorded a low of 1.2°C (below normal by 0.5°C), Katra received 17.6mm of rain and recorded a low of 9.0°C (2.1°C above normal) while Bhadarwah received 34.8mm of rain during the time and recorded minimum temperature of minus 0.6°C (0.2°C below normal).
Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 0.6°C and minus 6.8°C respectively, the official said.
When this report was filed, light snowfall was going on at several places but the MeT department said there would be gradual decrease in precipitation from later tonight.
“The weather is likely to be cloudy with light snow and rain at isolated to scattered places on January 31,” he said.
While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ has started. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1. (GNS)
