DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
Srinagar, Feb 21
While there was improvement in weather on Wednesday after three days of rain and snowfall, the crucial Srinagar-Jammu national highway, however, continued to remain shut for the third day.
The flight operations at Srinagar Airport were normal on Wednesday, officials said. Several flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to the bad weather.
Jammu-Srinagar national highway and Srinagar Leh road remained closed for vehicular traffic due to the snowfall and rain on Wednesday.
Traffic officials said Jammu Srinagar national highway is blocked due to mudslides, landslides, and the shooting of stones at several places due to rain on the whole highway during the past 24 hours.
“People are advised to avoid journeys on NH-44 until the weather improves and the road is clear,” a spokesman for the traffic police said.
The roads connecting Keran and Machil roads in Kupwara district, Anantnag Simthan, and Mughal roads were also closed for vehicular traffic due to snowfall on Tuesday, they said.
Several train services were suspended on Wednesday due to the accumulation of snow on the tracks, a railway official said.
Meanwhile, Meteorological Centre Srinagar said during the past 24 hours, the Kashmir valley has received widespread light to moderate rain, snow at many places with heavy rain, and snow at a few places.
Currently, the weather is partly to generally cloudy.
MeT said there is no significant weather activity until February 26.
It said there is a possibility of light to moderate rain and snow scattered in fairly widespread places on February 27–29.
The MeT office has also issued an advisory cautioning tourists and people to follow the traffic police advisory for undertaking travel following heavy snowfall over a few middle and higher reaches during the past two days.
It has also advised the general public living in hilly areas not to venture into avalanche-prone and sloppy areas amid the chances of landslides, mudslides, and shooting stones in a few places.
Night and day temperatures slipped down several degrees, resulting in cold conditions in the Kashmir valley.
The minimum temperature during the intervening nights of Tuesday and Wednesday in Srinagar was recorded at 0.0°C against the normal of 0.9°C, and it was 0.9°C below normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The day temperature was also recorded at 7.3°C, below the normal of 10.3°C on the previous day in Srinagar.
Qazigund settled at 0.0°C, Kokernag at 3.4°C, Pahalgam at 1.6°C, Kupwara at 0.3°C, and Gulmarg at -9.4°C on Tuesday, the MeT office said.
