Rains, snowfall across J&K; Jmu-Sgr NH shut

JAMMU: The cold wave intensified as the plains including the twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar were lashed by heavy rains on Thursday while the high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh including the famous ski resort of Gulmarg experienced moderate snowfall, forcing the authorities to close down the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Thursday evening.

These weather conditions are likely to continue on Friday, with any improvement likely only on Saturday morning, the meteorological department said.

Flight operations at the Srinagar airport remained suspended for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday as all flights to and fro the Kashmir valley were cancelled due to poor visibility caused by fog, officials said.

The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed on Thursday evening following moderate snowfall in and around Jawahar Tunnel the gateway to Kashmir valley, the traffic department said.

About one feet of snow had accumulated at the tunnel on the Kashmir side till 7 pm, forcing suspension of the vehicular traffic on the highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, the official said.

The high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh including the famous ski resort of Gulmarg experienced moderate snowfall while the plains including the twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar were lashed by rains since Thursday afternoon.

The weatherman has issued an orange warning for the Union Territories for Thursday and Friday, forecasting moderate to heavy snowfall and rain caused by Western Disturbances which had hit the region on Wednesday.

However, the weather is likely to improve on Saturday morning, the meteorological department said.

Due to overcast conditions, the night temperature in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir marked an increase and settled above the season's average but the day temperature fell several degrees below normal during this part of the season, the official said.

Srinagar recorded a maximum of 5.9 degrees celsius, 3.6 notches below the season's average and a minimum of minus 0.7 degrees Celsius which is 0.3 above normal during this part of the season.

Jammu recorded a high of 15.2 degrees Celsius -- 6.2 degrees below normal, and a low of 10.5 degrees Celsius which is 1.3 notches above normal, the spokesperson said.

Leh in the Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place with a low of minus 10.6 degrees Celsius and a high of 1.6 degrees Celsius, he said.

Meanwhile, flight operations at the Srinagar airport remained suspended for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday.

"All flights at the Srinagar airport were cancelled on Thursday and no flight operations took place for the sixth straight day," an official of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said.

He said the visibility at the airport, due to fog, was very poor and the conditions were not suitable for flight operations.

"The visibility at the airport has been hovering around 100 to 500 metres. The required visibility is 1,000-1,200 metres. So, all flights for the day were cancelled," the official said.

The flight operations have been severely affected at the Srinagar airport for the past five days.
Although there was light rainfall early in the morning, the foggy conditions persisted in the valley. The MeT department has forecast snow or rains in the next couple of days.