Fresh snowfall in Kashmir

Srinagar: Srinagar and some other parts of Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Saturday, affecting flight operations at the airport here, even as the minimum temperature dropped across the Valley, officials said.

The fresh snowfall began early in the morning, they said.

The valley had received snowfall for four consecutive days earlier in the week, draping everything in white.

The officials said Srinagar recorded four inches of snow till 8.30 am.

In south Kashmir, Kulgam recorded five inches of snow, Anantnag three, Shopian three and Pulwama four. Bandipora, in the north, received two inches of snow and central Kashmir's Budgam and Ganderbal districts recorded three inches each, the officials said.

There were no reports of snowfall at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, and Pahalgam tourist resort in the south, the officials added.

Some other areas in the valley received rainfall, they said.

The MeT Office had forecast very light rains or snowfall at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, even as it had said there was no forecast of any major snowfall and the weather was likely to stay mainly dry till January 14.

The fresh snowfall affected the air traffic to and fro the Kashmir valley as no flight operations took place at the Srinagar airport, the officials said.

They said because of the accumulation of snow on the runway, the flight operations were hampered, delaying several flights.

We expect flight delays today even as a couple of flights have been cancelled for the day, the officials said.

The air traffic would be restored as soon as the weather improves and the runway is cleared, they added.

The Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for traffic on the seventh day on Saturday, the officials said.

They said the 260 kilometre-long highway -- the only all-weather road connecting



Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was blocked by the accumulation of snow and landslides and shooting stones due to the heavy snowfall earlier this week.

The officials said while the highway was cleared on Friday and stranded traffic was allowed, no fresh vehicle movement has been allowed yet.

The Mughal Road -- the alternate road-link which connects the valley to the Jammu division through Shopian-Rajouri axis was closed for traffic due to heavy snowfall in the region, the officials said.

The MeT Office said the minimum temperature went down across the valley.

Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius -- down from minus 0.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.

The minimum temperature in Gulmarg tourist resort settled at minus 10.0 degrees Celsius -- same as the night earlier.

Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius -- down from minus 3.3 degrees Celsius.

Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, Kupwara, in the north, minus 5.4 degrees Celsius and Kokernag minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies including the famous Dal Lake here as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.

The chances of snowfall are the most frequent and maximum during this period and most areas, especially in the higher reaches, receive heavy snowfall.

While 'Chillai-Kalan' -- which began on December 21 -- will end on January 31, the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and a 10-day-long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold) following it.