Srinagar: Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, received the biggest snowfall of the season, resulting in the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the cancellation of several trains, and all flights on Sunday, officials said.
All the flights to and fro at the Srinagar International Airport have been cancelled due to bad weather, officials said. It was still snowing in Srinagar and other parts of the valley.
A railway official said the railway operation in Kashmir was also hit, as about a dozen trains were cancelled while others were running late due to the snowfall.
Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was also suspended following fresh landslides and snow at various places. Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks carrying essentials and passenger cars, were stranded on the highway.
The Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri-Sonamarg-Gumrig Ladakh was also closed due to the snowfall on the road.
Srinagar and its adjoining areas were decked with a thick layer of snow, the major one this season.
Authorities in Srinagar have pressed into service men and machines to clear the snow from the roads to make them traffic-worthy.
Meteorological Centre Srinagar said that the plains of the Kashmir valley received 3-6 inches of snowfall, while the middle and higher reaches experienced 8–12 inches during the past 24 hours.
Jammu Division also experienced light to moderate rain with thunder over plains and light to moderate snow over the middle and higher during the period.
The weather will generally remain cloudy in a few places, with light to moderate snow likely to continue over many places till today afternoon or late afternoon and gradual improvement after that, the MeT office said.
On February 5, the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy with the possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches, while the weather will remain dry from February 6–13, it said.
The MeT office said that Srinagar received 5.3cm of snowfall and 6.3mm of rainfall, Qazigund 10.0cm of snowfall and 13.0mm of rainfall, Pahalgam 12.0cm of snowfall and 14.2mm of rainfall, Kupwara 21.0cm of snowfall and 10.9mm of rainfall, Kokernag 11.0cm of snowfall and 12.2mm of rainfall, and Gulmarg 20.0cm of snowfall and 21.8mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours.
Srinagar recorded a low of -0.7 °C on Sunday, and it was normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir during this period of the season.
The maximum temperature in Kashmir Valley slipped to below 4–7 °C following snowfall.
Srinagar recorded a maximum of 1.7 °C, which was 7.2 °C below the normal of 8.9 °C on the previous day.
Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu National recorded a minimum of -2.2 °C, Pahalgam -3.5 °C, Kupwara -2.3 °C, Kokernag -3.0 °C, and Gulmarg -7.0 °C, respectively, the MeT office said.
UNI
