WDs to impact weather from Jan 22-24
Kashmir experiences sub-zero temp
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Jan 17: Breaking all the previous records, Jammu’s SKUAST- Chatha station recorded 0.0 degree Celsius night temperature.
Dr Mahender Kumar Singh, Chief Scientist, Agrometeorology, SKUAST-Jammu told the Excelsior that their Chatha Campus weather observatory in Jammu recorded lowest ever night temperature on Jan 17, 2023. He said SKUAST-Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 0.0 degree Celsius and it has broken all the previous records.
The SKUAST Scientist further added that 0.2 degree Celsius was the lowest ever temperature recorded at Chatha observatory so far. This station had recorded 0.6 degree C night temperature four years ago while once it had recorded 0.4 degree temperature.
Dr Mahender said on January 16 (Monday), this observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 1.0 degree C. He said massive frost was noticed in Chatha area during early morning hours today. The frost was also observed on the roof top of several parked vehicles on the Campus.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperature settled below the freezing point in Kashmir as the weather stayed dry, even as the Meteorological Department has forecast rains and snow from the mid-week, officials said today.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius on Monday night– down from minus 1.9 degrees Celsius the night before, they said. The minimum temperature was 0.6 degree below the normal.
Qazigund, the gateway to the Valley, registered a minimum of minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, – 2.1 degrees below the normal.
Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum in Kupwara, a frontier district, settled at minus 4.3 degrees Celsius – 7.4 degrees below the normal, the officials said.
Pahalgam in Anantnag district, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, registered a low of minus 11.8 degrees Celsius – down from minus 10.2 degrees Celsius. The minimum was 4.6 degrees below normal for this part of the season.
This was the lowest night temperature of the season so far at the tourist resort. The resort was also the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir.
The minimum temperature at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla district went half a degree up from the previous night’s minus 12 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 11.5 degrees Celsius.
Holy township of Katra Mata Vaishnodevi in Jammu region recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius, tourist station Bhaderwah the night temperature of minus 2.6 deg C, Batote minus 2.0 deg C and Banihal had minus 1.5 degree Celsius temperature today. The MeT advisory, however, claimed to have recorded 3.1 deg C minimum temperature in the winter capital today, which is also season’s lowest so far.
The Meteorological office said the weather will remain mainly dry across Jammu and Kashmir till January 18. There will be a further decrease in the night temperature till that time.
It said, a few western disturbances are likely to affect J-K from January 22-24.
The weather will remain cloudy from January 19-21 with chances of light rain or snow over isolated to scattered places mainly over higher reaches.
However, it said a much higher intensity precipitation will occur from the night of January 22 to the forenoon of January 24 and there is a possibility of widespread moderate snow in plains of Kashmir (with rains in Jammu) and moderate to heavy snow over middle and higher reaches.
There was restriction on the movement of vehicles due to slippery road conditions in Banihal, Nowgam Tunnel and Patnitop area. The movement of oil tankers is allowed via Patnitop and not Nashri-Chenani tunnel. An advisory with cut off timings has been issued by the Traffic Police authorities for the smooth movement of vehicular traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. From Jakhani in Udhampur to Kashmir and from Qazigund to Jammu side, the timing is between 9 am to 12 noon, a Traffic police official said.
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