Flights at Srinagar. Jammu delayed
*MeT predicts dry weather till Jan 10
Fayaz Bukhari/Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/ JAMMU, Jan 6: Kashmir and many hilly areas of Jammu region received fresh snowfall and rain since last night, bringing down the mercury further and also leading to disruption in flight operations today.
Srinagar received fresh snowfall of 2-3 inches in the last 24 hours. Sonamarg and Gulmarg received heavy snowfall with accumulation of 16 inches and 15 inches, respectively, till this morning.
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Pahalgam recorded a snow accumulation of 6 inches. Doodhpathri and Yousmarg in Budgam and Pir ki Gali in Poonch recorded a snowfall of one foot each.
An official said that Anantnag, Qazigund, Kulgam, Kokernag, Pulwama, Budgam plains, Ganderbal, Kupwara and other areas received a light snowfall of 1-2 inches.
Hilly areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Reasi, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar besides parts of Udhampur and Kathua also received rain and fresh snowfall last night and this morning. The plain areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua also received rain during last night. It brought down the temperature. However, during the day many parts of the region witnessed sun shine.
Mughal Road connecting Kashmir with Rajouri-Poonch , Bani Basohli and Kishtwar-Anantnag roads also remained closed due to heavy fresh snowfall at Pir Ki Gali, Chhatergalla and Sinthon Pass, the officials said. Click here to watch video
The chopper service to Mata Vaishnodevi shrine from the base camp Katra also remained hit for few hours due to bad weather.
Director Meteorological department (MeT) Srinagar, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, said that the weather conditions would remain generally dry from tomorrow till January 10 while on January 11 and 12, there is a possibility of light rain in plains of Jammu and snow at isolated to scattered places.
He added that from January 13-15, the weather would remain generally dry.
Meanwhile, in its advisory, the MeT has stated that the tourists, travelers and transporters are advised to follow administration and traffic advisory.
The night temperatures improved across Kashmir and settled above normal with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.5 degree while Qazigund registered a night temperature of 0.0 degree.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 1.4 degree Celsius while Kokernag, Kupwara and Gulmarg, a famous ski-resort, had a low of minus 0.4 degree, minus 0.3 degree and 4.5 degree Celsius respectively.
Meanwhile, all the morning flights at Srinagar airport were delayed due to bad weather.
Director Srinagar airport, Javed Anjum said that flights that were scheduled for the morning have been delayed till 11 am due to bad weather.
“The runway is clear, and the flight status is on standby. Operations will resume after 11 am, depending on weather conditions,” he said.
The flight operations were, however, resumed after 11:00 am with officials stating that the operations have resumed as the first flight from Amritsar landed at Srinagar International Airport.
The flight operations resumed after a day-long suspension as all the flights scheduled to and from Srinagar International Airport were cancelled after the dense fog reduced visibility to zero at the airport.
Due to bad weather and snowfall on the runway at Srinagar, four flights at Jammu airport landed late. An official said that except three Srinagar and one Delhi bound flights, all other flights operated at per their normal schedule at Jammu airport.
Meanwhile, Jammu recorded a maximum temperature of 19.1 degrees Celsius and minimum 9.3 deg C; Katra town a minimum temperature of 9.2 deg and maximum 17.0 deg C, Bhaderwah town a maximum temp of 11.9 and minimum 3.6 while Banihal town registered a maximum temperature of 11.8 deg and minimum 2.3 deg C today.
Leh city recorded a maximum temperature of 4.0 deg C and minimum -4.9 deg C on Monday.
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