Thick fog blankets Kashmir amid severe cold
Srinagar: A thick blanket of fog enveloped most of Kashmir including Srinagar amid severe cold wave conditions on Thursday.
A meteorological department official said that Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.3°C against minus 2.6°C on previous night and it was 1.2°C below normal for the summer capital of J&K for this time of the year.
Most parts of the Valley including Srinagar again saw fog, reducing visibility and bringing traffic to a crawl.
Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 3.8°C against minus 3.2°C on the previous night, he said. The minimum temperature was 1.5°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, the MeT official said.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 5.44°C against minus 4.6°C on the previous night and it was 0.2°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 2.0°C against minus 2.2°C on the previous night and the temperature was above normal by 0.7°C for the place, the official said.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 4.3°C against minus 4.2°C on the previous night and it was 1.8°C below normal there, the official said.
Gulmarg, the official said, recorded a low of minus 2.6°C against minus 2.8°C on the previous night and the temperature was 3.6°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir.
Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 5.8°C against 7.6°C on previous night, and it was below normal by 1.6°C for the winter capital of J&K.
Banihal recorded a low of 9.2°C, Batote 6.2°C and Bhaderwah 2.0°C, he said.
Kashmir valley is under ‘Chillai-Kalan’, the 40-day harsh period of winter, which will end on January 30. However it does not mean an end to the winter. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
Weatherman has predicted generally cloudy weather with possibility of light snow over isolated higher reaches during 24 hours.
“Generally dry weather with moderate to dense fog over Central Kashmir, Plains of Baramulla, Ganderbal and Pulwama districts is expected till 31st December,” the MeT official said.
However, he said, there is possibility of light snow over higher reaches during evening/night of December 31.
He said from January 1-2, weather is expected to be dry.” Generally cloudy weather with light rain/snow is expected at “isolated” places on January 3-4. (GNS)
