Season’s coldest night in Srinagar, 28 flights cancelled due to thick fog
SRINAGAR: Srinagar recorded the coldest night of the season as severe cold conditions continued unabated in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Sunday, an official of the meteorological department said.
The Meteorological Centre in Srinagar said Saturday night temperature in Srinagar was -4 degrees while it was -5.6°C at a ski resort of Gulmarg and -6.3°C at a Pahalgam tourist resort.
“The lowest temperature of -26 degrees was recorded in Drass area of Ladakh. In Leh, the mercury dropped to -16 during the night,” said an official of MET.
“The fog covered the plains of the valley. It was more dense in Srinagar,” he said.
Director MET, Sonam Lotus said that there was almost zero visibility in Srinagar due to the fog. He said foggy conditions were a result of the calm atmosphere in the valley.
“The atmosphere has been stable in Kashmir for the last 10 days. The wind is calm while minimum temperatures are running two-three degrees below the average temperature . As a result, the dust particles suspended in lower atmosphere are causing heavy fog,” he said.
Dense fog disrupted life in parts of Kashmir, particularly in Srinagar, for the third day in a row on Sunday as all the 28 flight operations at Srinagar Airport were cancelled. In the past three days 63 flights have been cancelled due to fog.
From early morning, heavy fog enveloped the city reducing the visibility, as minimum temperatures hovered below zero. The chill prompted people to stay indoors till the effect of the fog started to abate by the late afternoon. As evening approached, the fog returned as temperatures started to drop again.
“It is very difficult to move around in these conditions. The cold is bone chilling and there is no visibility. It is better to stay put in your house. Doctors also advice caution,” said Noor Mohammad, a city resident who had planned to go shopping on Sunday. All the flights which were scheduled from the Srinagar Airport were cancelled by the authorities.
Director Srinagar Airport Santosh Dhoke said that they had cancelled all the flights for the second day in a row due to foggy conditions.
He said that the flight cancellation was causing a huge inconvenience to the people but there was no other option.
Lotus said that the fog will continue on Monday as well while they were expecting improvement from December 10 onwards.
The night temperature, however, is likely to improve in the coming days under the influence of western disturbance, which is likely to hit the region on Wednesday, bringing another spell of snow and rain.