Fog hits air, train traffic; 3 flights cancelled
Shopian coldest at -7.5 deg C, Poonch -7.0
Gopal Sharma/
Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Jan 14: The winter capital city- Jammu turned much colder than Srinagar, Pahalgam and even Gurlmarg, as the day temperature of Jammu today went 10.1 degrees Celsius below normal, while dense fog affected the air and train traffic in the region, forcing cancellation of three flights.
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Jammu region continued to be under the grip of bone- chilling cold weather conditions for the last couple of days. The Temple City on Wednesday recorded 7.4 degrees C day temperature-the 4th lowest during last 40 years.
The day temperature in Gulmarg was 8.2 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 10.6 degrees C while Srinagar City recorded a day temperature of 13.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
Director Meteorological Department, Srinagar, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that Jammu today recorded a maximum temperature of 7.4 degrees Celsius, which is fourth lowest during last 40 years.
Giving detail, Dr Mukhtar said during winters in 1986, Jammu had recorded a lowest day temperature of 5.0 degrees Celsius; then during 2013, the day temperature of 6.7 deg C and during 2016 a maximum temperature of 7.1 degrees C. Today’s day temperature in Jammu was 10.1 degrees below normal for the place on this day. However, the night temperature in Jammu remained 4.0 degree C. The Chatha observatory of SKUAST in Jammu, however, recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 deg C on Wednesday.
The Director said a Western Disturbance (WD) is approaching towards Jammu and Kashmir and is likely to affect the weather in the region from January 16. The foggy weather conditions will remain for a few more days while the chilling weather conditions continue, he added.
As the Jammu continued to be under the grip of dense fog during morning and evening hours, at least a dozen flights and nearly an equal number of trains, were affected with its impact today.
Director Airport Authority, Jammu, Devender Yadav said that in view of dense fog and poor visibility, three flights, two IndiGo and one Air India, between Srinagar-Jammu Bombay, Delhi-Jammu-Delhi and Srinagar-Jammu-Srinagar were cancelled on Wednesday.
Yadav further disclosed that out of the 26 scheduled flights today, three stood cancelled while nine others were delayed. They included eight IndiGo and one Air India Express flights. The flight operation at Jammu Airport could be possible after 12 noon as the visibility improved, he added.
A senior Railway official said that the trains are arriving about 2-7 hours late from their scheduled time as the rail operation is also badly affected due to dense fog in northern parts of the country. He said several trains including Durg Express, Jhelum, Uttar Sampark Kranti etc arrived late during last 24 hours here.
Meanwhile, a MeT official disclosed that Poonch City recorded a lowest night temperature in Jammu region today. It was -7.0 degrees C on Wednesday. The maximum temperature however, remained 10.4 deg C.
Rajouri recorded a minimum temperature of 0.6 deg C, Bhaderwah town 0.5 deg, Udhampur 1.0 deg C, Samba 1.5 deg C , Reasi town 1.6 deg, while both Doda and Kishtwar towns registered 4.3 deg C temperature today.
Batote town recorded a minimum temperature of 4.5 deg C, Banihal 5.3 deg C, Holy township of Katra Mata Vaishnodevi 5.5 deg C, Kathua 4.2 deg C, and Ramban 2.8 deg C temperature on Wednesday.
People in plains of Jammu especially, the roadside vendors were seen burning firewood to protect themselves from chilly weather while the business houses have installed warmers and electric heaters to provide respite to the visitors from the harsh weather. Vehicles moved at snail’s pace on the road with headlights on to avoid accidents due to thick fog.
Reports from Srinagar said parts of the famous Dal lake here and several water bodies in Kashmir froze on Wednesday as sub-zero minimum temperatures across the Valley dropped further.
The Kashmir valley is in the midst of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ — a 40-day period of extreme cold, when the chances of snowfall are the highest. It began on December 21 and will end on January 30.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius last night, down from the minus 4.9 degrees Celsius recorded the previous night, a MeT official said.
Shopian in south Kashmir was the coldest place in the Valley, where the mercury settled at minus 7.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Pulwama 7.0 deg C.
Pahalgam, a popular tourist spot in south Kashmir, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius.
The night temperature in Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district settled at a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, and in Sonamarg it was minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley, settled at minus 5.3 degrees Celsius. Kokernag recorded a low of minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, and Kupwara minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, he added.
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