SRINAGAR: Winter season’s first major snowfall with middle and higher reaches in most districts of Kashmir Valley with over one feet of snowfall recorded till Thursday morning while Central Kashmir areas including capital city Srinagar experienced a thin layer of snow since Wednesday evening.
A Meteorological Department official in Srinagar said that in last 24 hours till 0830 hours, 10 to 15 inches of snow was received over middle and higher reaches of Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Badgam, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian.
The official said that 6-8 inches of snow was recorded over lower reaches and plains of North, North-Western and South Kashmir.
Most parts in Central Kashmir including Srinagar had thin blanket of snow with MeT saying 2-4 Inches accumulation was recorded.
There was also light to moderate rain with thunder over Jammu Division with light snowfall over few middle and higher reaches.
Regarding forecast, he said, generally cloudy weather is expected with light snowfall at few places till Thursday afternoon and gradual improvement thereafter.
On 2nd February, he said, the weather is expected to be generally dry with possibility of very light snowfall at isolated higher reaches.
From February 3-4, the MeT official said, there is possibility of light to moderate snowfall and rains (Jammu) at many places of J&K. From February 5-12, generally dry weather is expected.
Meanwhile, night temperature recorded drop with Srinagar recording a low of 0.2°C against 2.2°C on previous night and it was 0.9°C above normal for the summer capital of J&K for this time of the year.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 0.4°C against 0.4°C on the previous night, he said. The minimum temperature was 1.7°C above normal for Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, the MeT official said.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 4.1°C against 0.1°C on the previous night and it was 2.0°C above normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 1.4°C against 0.2°C on the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 1.0°C for the place, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.7°C against 1.3°C on the previous night and it was 1.6°C above normal there, the official said.
Gulmarg, the official said, recorded a low of minus 7.6°C against minus 3.0°C on the previous night and the temperature was normal for the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir.
Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 7.2°C and it was below normal by 1.2°C for the winter capital of J&K.
Banihal recorded a low of 0.2°C, Batote 1.4°C and Bhaderwah 0.2°C, he said.
As ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day harsh period of winter ended on January 29, Kashmir is presently in the middle of 20-day-long winter period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that ends on February 19 and is followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which starts from February 20 to March 1.
Jammu-Srinagar Highway Closed
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the world, has been blocked due to shooting stones at the T2 tunnel.
An official told local news gathering agencies that the Jammu-Srinagar NHW is blocked due to shooting stones at T2 following heavy rainfall along the road and snowfall between Ramsoo and Banihal.
A part of the road caved in due to landslides triggered by rains and snowfall at Sher Bibi. The restoration work has been undertaken by the authorities and traffic movement has been suspended till further orders. The vehicular movement will be allowed only ensuring safety of the vehicles and their passengers.
The officer advised people to avoid journey on NHW until the road is cleared and to consult the traffic control unit before starting their journey.
The officer mentioned that the Mughal Road and Srinagar-Sonamarg Road are already closed due to snow accumulation.
Heavy rains disrupt flight, train operations in Delhi
The western disturbances triggered heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in Delhi-NCR on Thursday amidst cold day conditions. Several other cities in northern India also received heavy rainfall on the intervening nights of Wednesday and Thursday.
This morning, the national capital saw a minimum temperature of 7.3 degrees Celsius, which is one degree below average. The highest temperature on Wednesday was 18.6 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees colder than usual. Delhi and numerous other regions of India will continue to have mild to moderate rainfall, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rainfall would occur over and adjoining areas of few places of Delhi (Narela, Bawana, Alipur, Burari, Rohini, Karawal Nagar), NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon Air Force Station, Bahadurgarh, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Gurugram and Manesar),” IMD stated in a post on X.
“Western Himalayan Region (Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) is also getting rainfall/snowfall activity as shown in recent satellite imagery,” IMD stated in its report.
The bad weather affected both train and flight operations. The Railways said that several trains from throughout the nation were arriving in Delhi late. The IMD predicts that on Thursday, the national capital’s minimum temperature will be around 12 degrees Celsius and its highest temperature will stay around 19 degrees Celsius.
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