*Train, air traffic badly hit due to fog
Gopal Sharma/ Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, Jan 5: The winter capital of Jammu turned much colder than Srinagar today as its day temperature was about 2 degrees below that of Srinagar, while plain areas of Jammu and adjoining Punjab are under the grip of severe cold and dense fog for the last couple of days, affecting train and air-traffic.
Jammu recorded season’s lowest day temperature of 8.9 degrees Celsius, about 9 degrees below normal which is 18.0 deg C, whereas, Srinagar recorded a day temperature of 11.0 degree Celsius today. The night temperature in Jammu was also lowest of the season so far and was recorded as 3.0 degrees C as compared to 4.5 deg C on Wednesday, a MeT official said.
The temple city of Jammu was even colder than Bhaderwah, Batote and Banihal towns today as these places recorded 15.2 deg C, 15.0 deg C and 13.2 degrees Celsius temperatures respectively. Holy township of Katra Mata Vaishnodevi recorded a day temperature of 19.6 degrees Celsius and 4.8 degrees night temperature today, whereas, temperatures of Kupwara, Kokernag and even Qazigund remained higher than Jammu today.
Srinagar recorded the coldest night of the season today with temperatures dipping to a low of minus 6.4°C leading to freezing of water bodies including parts of Dal lake and water tapes.
Srinagar and other places recorded season’s lowest temperatures today leading to freezing of water bodies and stagnant water. Parts of Srinagar’s Dal lake were frozen in the morning.
The water taps and pipes were also frozen in the morning creating temporary water crisis in certain areas. However, in the afternoon it was resolved due to de-freezing of taps and water pipes.
A Meteorological Department official said that Srinagar recorded a low of minus 6.4°C against last night’s minus 5.2°C.
Today’s minimum temperature was 4.3°C below normal and surpassed the previous lowest temperature of the season that was recorded on December 25 when mercury plummeted to minus 5.8°C in the city.
Qazigund recorded a low of minus 6.2°C against minus 5.2°C the previous night. The temperature was 3.3°C below normal and lowest recorded this season for the town.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 9.2°C against minus 9.4°C the previous night. The coldest night recorded this season in the tourist resort was on January 2 when mercury plunged to minus 9.6°C. Today’s minimum temperature was 2.6°C below normal for the place.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 4.4°C against minus 3.8°C on the previous night. It was 0.9°C below normal for the place.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 7.5°C against minus 8.4°C on the previous night. It was 0.5°C below normal for the skiing resort which recorded its coldest night on January 2 when minimum temperature plummeted to minus 10.0°C.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at minus 6.0°C against minus 4.1°C the previous night. The temperature was 3.5°C below normal for the place.
Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 15.2°C and minus 19.2°C temperatures, respectively.
Kashmir is under the grip of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 and will end on January 30. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bacha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
Regarding the forecast, the MeT official said mainly clear weather was expected till January 6. “Expect further fall in minimum temperature across J&K,” he said, adding, “On January 7, weather is expected to be cloudy and from January 8-10, weather is expected to be cloudy with possibility of snowfall and rain (in plains of Jammu) at many places of J&K (70% chance).” Moderate rain and snowfall has been predicted during January 11-13.
Meanwhile, several flights arrived late by one to three hours at Jammu airport due to dense fog during morning hours while a few flights were rescheduled. With this flight operation at Delhi and Srinagar airports was also hit.
At least 12 trains were delayed and departures of a few was rescheduled due to dense fog in northern region, a Northern Railway spokesman said.
Many trains arrived late by 2 to 9 hours at Jammu station due to foggy weather conditions and poor visibility during last 12 hours.
Happa Express was late by 3 hours, Hemkund Express by two hours, Tata Moorie by 2 hours, Shalimar Express by one hour 45 minutes, Sealdah Express by 4 hours 30 minutes, Begumpura Express by 2 hours 30 minutes, Malwa Express by 5 hours, Himgiri by 9 hrs 30 minutes while Humsafar Express was late by 9 hours today. The vehicular traffic was also affected badly due to dense fog since last night.
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