Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Jan 12: Kashmir valley recorded coldest day of the season with the temperature plummeting to 3.5 degree Celsius while snowfall in Kashmir valley partially disrupted the surface and air traffic to Kashmir valley in the morning.
Kashmir valley witnessed fresh snowfall in the morning and during the day gusty winds, rain and snow made people to shiver. A Meteorological Department official said here that Srinagar recorded day temperature of 3.5 degree Celsius while night temperature was recorded at 0.4 degree Celsius.
The lowest temperature in the State was recorded at minus 17.4 degree Celsius in Kargil where maximum temperature was recorded at minus 6.4 degree Celsius. Leh recorded minimum of minus 13.9 degree Celsius while maximum temperature was recorded at minus 1 degree Celsius.
The winter capital Jammu that was colder than Srinagar last week showed improvement in the weather with the day temperature coming to normal levels. The maximum temperature in Jammu was recorded at 20 degree Celsius and minimum at 9.8 degree Celsius.
The overnight snowfall in Kashmir valley and mountains disrupted traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the morning. However, it was restored in the afternoon after the snow clearance by the Border Roads Organization in Jawahar Tunnel and Patnitop areas of the National Highway.
Inspector General of Police Traffice, Muneer Ahmad Khan, told Excelsior that overnight snowfall disrupted the traffic on the National Highway as there was snowfall in Jawahar Tunnel and Patnitop area of the Highway.
Khan said that the traffic was restored on the highway at around 10 a.m. after the snow clearance from the highway by the BRO. He said that first the trucks from Qazigund were cleared and it was followed by the passenger traffic due to slipper condition of the highway in Banihal and Patnitop sectors.
The IGP Traffic said that the traffic was allowed to on the highway from Qazigund upto 3 p.m. only due to slippery road condition and freak weather.
Khan said that subject to fair weather conditions and good condition of road all kinds of vehicles including private LMVs’, commercial LMVs’, LCVs’, Medium passenger as well as commercial vehicles, buses, heavy commercial vehicles would be allowed to travel from Jammu side towards Kashmir in a regulated manner tomorrow.
“However, all vehicles are required to cross TCP Nagrota by 1300 hours, Udhampur by 1430 hours and TCP Banihal by 2200 hours, beyond which no vehicle will be allowed to proceed towards Kashmir for onward journey”, the IGP said.
The freak weather also disrupted the Air traffic in the morning and one flight of Go Air was cancelled. The air traffic was restored in the afternoon and 15 flights operated from Srinagar International Airport.
Director Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus, said rain and snowfall will occur in the Kashmir Valley due to the western disturbance active over the State for next 48 hours. “There will be light snowfall in some areas including Srinagar. But moderate to heavy snowfall is expected in the higher reaches,” he added.
In the meantime, authorities said here that Gulmarg recorded 4 to 5 inches of snow, Baramulla and Sopore 2 to 3 inches, Rafiabad 4 to 5 inches, Gurez 12 to 14 inches, Pahalgam, 4 to 5 inches and Lolab 5 to 6 inches.
The Divisional Commissioner’s office Kashmir said here that snow clearance was done by Mechanical Engineering Department on various roads including Gulmarg-Tangmarg Road.
Follow our WhatsApp channel