Mercury plunges to -12°C in Gulmarg
Severe cold conditions prevailed in parts of Kashmir Valley on Thursday with mercury plunging to bone chilling -12 degree Celsius in the ski resort of Gulmarg.
The meteorological centre in Srinagar said the temperature on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday in north Kashmir’s Gulmarg was some 5.3 notches below normal.
Similarly, south Kashmir’s Pahalgam recorded a minimum of -11.9 degrees C on the intervening night, some 5.7 notches below normal.
The centre in an update said the summer capital Srinagar recorded a low of -5.2 degrees C lower than previous night’s -2 degrees C.
The gateway to Kashmir, Qazigund in South Kashmir, experienced a minimum of -6.4 degrees C further down from -3.2 degrees C on the previous night. South’s Kokernag also recorded sub-zero temperature of -4.5 degrees C.
In north Kashmir, the frontier district of Kupwara on the Line of Control recorded a low of -5.4 degrees C, down from -3.3 degrees C on the previous night.
In Jammu, the minimum temperature was recorded at 3.6 degrees C, some 5.9 notches below normal for the winter capital. Bhaderwah witnessed a minimum of -2.1 degrees C, Banihal -1.4 degrees C and Batote 0.3 degrees C on the intervening night. This week, the day temperatures are hovering around normal while the nights are becoming increasingly colder. There was bright sunshine in the summer capital Srinagar on Thursday.
Director MeT Mukhtar
Ahmad said the weather will remain dry till February 17. “The weather will be occasionally cloudy towards evening during February 14,” he said.
The MeT also predicted that there was a possibility of snow and rains between 18 to 20 February. The Valley is passing through the second moderate phase of winter called Chillai Khurd after the harshest 40-day period ended on January 29 with warm and dry days.
Avalanche hits Ganderbal
A massive avalanche struck the Sarbal area of central Kashmir’s
Ganderbal district near the Zojila tunnel workshop, on Thursday, officials said. No loss of life has been reported so far, they said. “The avalanche hit near a nallah close to Zojila workshop. There was no loss of life or property,” said a police officer of Ganderbal.
The authorities have issued an avalanche warning for the higher-reaches of Kashmir Valley following heavy snowfall in the first week of February. People have been advised to avoid venturing towards the avalanche-prone zones for the next 24 hours.
Cold wave conditions prevail in HP, Lahaul’s Kukumseri shivers at -14.2 deg C
Cold wave conditions continued in Himachal Pradesh as Lahaul and Spiti district’s Kukumseri recorded a low of minus 14.2 degree Celsius while the weather remained dry on Thursday.
Thick fog was witnessed in Sundernagar, Mandi and Bilaspur in the morning, reducing visibility to 500 metres while ground frost occurred in mid and higher hills, making commuting hazardous.
Restoration works are in full swing to open over 200 roads, including five national highways, closed due to heavy snow and landslides, officials said.
Narkanda and Kalpa recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees and minus 4.2 degrees respectively, followed by Manali and Bharmaur minus 2 degrees, Kufri minus 1.8 degrees, Bhuntar 0.1 degrees, Sundernagar 0.2 degrees and Shimla 0.9 degrees C. The high-altitude tribal areas and other higher reaches groaned under piercing cold wave conditions with mercury staying 15 to 22 degrees below freezing point.
The winter rain deficit from January 1 to February 8 increased to 38% as the state received 67.6 mm of rain against normal rainfall of 109.1mm.
All natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets and tributaries of snow-fed rivers and a large stretch of Chandrabhaga River were frozen resulting in a sharp decrease in the discharge of water in Sutlej, Ravi, Beas and other rivers.
According to the emergency operation centre, over 200 roads are closed in the state while 50 transformers and 13 water supply schemes are disrupted.