Coldest month since 1995

This has been the coldest winter since 1995 as far as the month of January is concerned but there is going to be a little bit respite from the continuous rains and snowfall till the 23rd of this month as predicted by the Meteorological department.

In comparison with last year from January 13 onwards, the mercury is witnessing a slight downward trend this year both in maximum and minimum temperatures. On January 14, 2010, the minimum temperature was 9.5 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature this year on January 14 dipped to 5.9 degrees Celsius. Moreover, the maximum temperature during the same period from January 13 onwards in comparison with last year is also on the lower side by a few degrees.

The Meteorological department has predicted that for the next four- five days, the day temperature may rise marginally but there will be a further dip in the minimum temperature.

For the next 4-5 days, it will be sunny in the Ladakh region but Jammu and Kashmir regions will remain cloudy.

Met forecasts snow on Sunday

Cold wave to intensify further

With day temperature dipping further, Kashmir continues to freeze in what is seen as one of the harshest winters, presenting the people with lot of difficulties.The valley has been devoid of clear sun shine since the major snowfall on Saturday while the day temperatures have consistently stayed below zero.The maximum temperature recorded at 11 this morning was minus 1.4 degree Celsius, which increased only slightly to minus 0.4 degree Celsius by 2:30 PM. It is far less than the normal temperature of 5 degree Celsius at this time of the year.

The nights are even colder. The minimum temperature recorded during Wednesday night was minus 3.8 degree Celsius, which is less than the 3.3 degree Celsius of the previous night.Round-the-clock minus temperature has frozen the snow on the roads, the water taps, water bodies and almost everything. And, the icicles hanging from the rooftops amidst overcast sky have brought back the memories of the past.“This kind of a winter was common in 1970s and 1980s. That time, snowfall in December or January was usually followed by long freezing temperatures that would prevent the snow from melting till March. And the long and thick icicles hanging from rooftops were symbolizing the winter. Now, it seems the era has returned,” 60-year-old, Habibulah Roshanghar, of Fateh Kadal said.

The hostile conditions are presenting a tough challenge to the people. The movement on slippery roads has become difficult and dangerous especially in the wee hours.Reportedly, the bone and joints hospitals—the valley’s only specialised orthopedic hospital—received more than 160 patients, majority of them with major fractures, in just two days after the snowfall.Fearing injuries, many, mostly elderly, prefer to stay home.“I have honestly not stepped out of the house since Saturday. Outside the room I cannot afford to take my hand out of the pocket for even a moment, and the frozen snow on the roads feels like shiny glass, difficult to walk on,” said Gulzar Ahmad of Batmaloo.The traffic movement on the city roads has also been both scarce and sluggish. This morning, a mini-bus, no JKOID 7966, overturned at Rangerstop near Khanyar in old city while negotiating a slippery curve. The driver and three others received minor injuries in the mishap.The police, however, could not confirm the incident.

HIGHWAY CLOSED

After remaining open yesterday, the Srinagar-Jammu highway has been closed again for the passenger vehicles.The officials in the traffic control unit said only vehicles carrying essential goods were allowed to move from Jammu towards Srinagar.“There are repairs going on at Battery Cheshma and some other place, so the passenger vehicles were not allowed,” an official said.

BANIHAL: Reports from Banihal said that today 400 vehicles including, 250 trucks carrying essential commodities, 121 Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) and 28 load carrier were allowed to roll from Jammu towards Srinagar. These vehilces crossed the Jawahar tunnel while at-least 1000 trucks were stranded on the other side of tunnel towards Verinag.

The truckers stranded on the other side of Jawahar Tunnel alleged that they were stranded there since last six days and were not allowed to proceed towards Jammu despite clearance of highway.The highway was blockade on Saturday last, due to inclement weather conditions. The traffic problem is getting compounded due to slippery road and avalanche threats at many places.No fresh vehicles carrying passengers or goods were allowed to move both from Jammu & Srinagar and only the stranded vehilces heading towards valley were cleared by the traffic authorities on priority. Meanwhile, power supply in the Upper Banihal area was restored today after seven days of interruption. However, Lower Banihal including town was without power since Friday. 

:As the Kashmir valley is reeling under cold wave conditions for past six days, the Meteorological Department has forecast that the cold and dry weather conditions will intensify for next two days.However, the Director MeT office in Srinagar, Sonam Lotus, said here that another western disturbance on Saturday will result in light to moderate snowfall on Sunday in Kashmir valley.

The snow is expected to give relief to the people who are facing water shortage due to freezing temperatures. The water pipes and taps are frozen for past five days and people in most localities are without water.

The freezing temperatures have frozen the stagnant water bodies and today more parts of the Dal lake were frozen with continuous freezing temperatures.

The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 3.8 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was recorded at minus 0.5 degree Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Pahalgam was minus 12.1 degrees and the maximum was recorded at minus 1.0 degree Celsius.

The gateway to Kashmir, the South Kashmir town of Qazigund recorded minimum temperature of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius and maximum temperature of minus 0.9 degree Celsius.

The tourist resort of Kokernag recorded a minimum temperature of minus 9.0 degree Celsius and maximum temperature of minus 2.4 degree Celsius.

The North Kashmir township of Kupwara recorded a maximum temperature of 0.6 degree Celsius and minimum temperature of minus 3.9 degrees Celsius.

Gulmarg recorded minus 16.4 degree Celsius while Leh minus 10.4 degree Celsius. Kargil was the coldest in the State at minus 18 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained opened for one way traffic today. The trucks with essential commodities were allowed to ply on the highway from Jammu to Srinagar. Over 100 trucks had crossed the tunnel upto this evening.

The Border Roads Organization (BRO) conducted repairs of the highway today at several places and sprinkled salt at several places to tackle with the slippery road.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held at Qazigund in which Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Kifayat Hussain Rizvi and SP Kulgam Masoodul Hassan besides other officers participated. The meeting reviewed the regulation of the traffic on the highway. The representatives from various agencies participated in the meeting. 

Coldest night of 2011 in Valley

As the temperatures across Kashmir continued to plummet, the State's summer capital, Srinagar, witnessed coldest night of the season with minimum temperature recorded at minus 4.8 degrees Celsius last night.

The Meteorological Department has forecast that dry and cold weather conditions will continue for next one week and the temperatures will plummet further in the region.

With the dipping temperatures, the cold wave in Kashmir intensified resulting in the freezing of the parts of Srinagar's world famous Dal lake.

Early in the morning the water near the banks of the Dal lake was frozen as a thin lawyer of ice formation had taken place. However, in the interior areas, where water mostly remains stagnant and sunlight does not reach due to tree line, thick ice layer had formed. However, with the Sun coming out, the ice layer near peripheries vanished.

The Dal lake froze completely in 1960s and it again froze in 1986 attracting large number of tourists to the lake to see it frozen. Recently, the lake froze in 2006 and children played cricket on the surface of the frozen lake. Last year, parts of Dal lake particularly near the peripheries were frozen due to subzero temperatures.

Meanwhile, majority of the Kashmiris woke up to the frozen water tapes leading to the water crisis in the morning. It was only in the afternoon when Sun came out that the frozen tapes started melting giving relief to the people from the temporary water crisis.

There was some relief from the intense cold wave conditions during the day as Sun was out with maximum temperature settling at 8 degrees Celsius.

While Srinagar recorded the lowest night temperature of the season at minus 4.8 degree Celsius, the mercury in tourist resort of Gulmarg in North Kashmir recorded a marginal increase over the last two days as the minimum temperature there settled at minus 9.8 degrees Celsius, said an official of the MeT department.

It may be mentioned here that the Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius for two consecutive nights two days ago.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam in South Kashmir recorded a minus 8.8 degrees Celsius. Previous night the temperature settled at minus 7.4 degrees Celsius.

In North Kashmir district of Kupwara, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 4.7 degrees Celsius and in Qazigund South Kashmir it was recorded at minus 5.6 degree Celsius.

The MeT official said that in Leh, the minimum temperature dropped by nearly one degree compared to yesterday to settle at minus 16.2 degree Celsius. Kargil recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius.

In the State's winter capital, Jammu, the impact of dipping temperature was felt with night temperature dipping to a low of 4.3 degrees Celsius. However, the day temperature settled at 20 degrees Celsius.

Coldest night in Valley

The Kashmir valley witnessed coldest night of the season last night as minimum temperature in summer capital dipped over three degrees below the freezing point and Meteorological Department suggested that mercury will dip further this week

A meteorological Department told Excelsior that the night temperature in Srinagar was recorded at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius. He said the other parts of the Kashmir valley including Leh and Kargil also reeled under the intense cold wave leading to shivering of the common masses.

The Leh town in Ladakh division was the coldest one as the mercury plummeted to minus 14.2 degrees. Leh was followed by Gulmarg where the night temperature was recorded as minus 10.2 degrees. In Kargil town, the minimum temperature was minus 9.6 degrees. The world renowned health resort of Pahalgam recorded the minimum temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius.

"It is expected that the night temperature would go down further in the Kashmir valley. The sky is expected to be clear over the next four or five days and this would lead to further dip in the minimum temperature over the next few days," said the Met official.

Extreme cold conditions in Valley

Valley has again been gripped under severe cold wave as the  temperatures dipped down to zero degree Celsius, giving Kashmir one of the coldest days of the season.Following poor visibility at the airport here a number of Srinagar bound flights were cancelled from different parts of the country. Two Indian Airlines flights for Hajj pilgrims were also cancelled. During the day, Srinagar recorded 0.2 degree Celsius, Qazigund  recorded minus 0.8 degrees, Pahalgam minus 1.6,  Kokernag 0.7degree, Kupwara 0.9 and Gulmarg  recorded minus 1.0 degree Celsius.

However the weatherman has ruled out the possibility of any snow or rainfall in the Valley.“Valley will remain cold till tomorrow. But there is no possibility of rain or snowfall at least for a week,” said  Sonum Lotus, Director Meteorological Department. Sonum said it will remain overcast and hazy till tomorrow.“There will be poor visibility during the morning and evening hours also. The weather will improve from tomorrow evening,” said Sonum.He informed that no rain or snowfall has been experienced on the higher reaches of the Valley as well. “It will remain cold but dry,” Sonum said.

While Kashmir reels under chill, the ‘Chillai Kalaan’ is 20 days away.  Lasting for forty days, chillai kalaan, which begins on December 21, is believed  to be the coldest part of the whole winter season of Kashmir. People make preparation to tackle the chill of this season weeks before its onset. Besides warm clothes, the dwellings are also equipped with heating gadgets. The schools and other educational institutions are closed down for winter vacations. Once the period of chillai kalaan is over, twenty days long chillai khurd (meaning small chilla) is welcomed.

This period is believed to bring warmth to the air and thus a change in season. This is followed by third part of the winter, chillai bachch. During the 10 days period of chillai bachch, Kashmiris believe that the chill in water breaks and becomes warmer. Once the chillai bachch is over, the soil gets warmness, as people here believe.

cold wave in kashmir Valley

For the third consecutive day, entire Kashmir valley is in the grip of an intense cold wave, with both the day and night temperatures plummeting further.

Icy winds swept across the Kashmir valley making people to shiver and forced majority of them to stay indoors.

Reports of fresh snowfall have come from the higher reaches of the Valley while as rains lashed the plains that is said to be reason behind the intensification of cold wave.

An official at Meteorological department said that the higher reaches of the Kashmir valley are expected to receive light snowfall over the next 24 hours. He said that some plains in the Kashmir valley are expected to receive rains over the next 24 hours.

"There are reports of snowfall in the higher reaches of the Valley but as no weather observatories are there we cannot measure snowfall at such places. Similarly light rains have been recorded in some of the plains of the valley and same is expected over the next 24 hours as well," said the MeT official.

He said the day temperature in Srinagar was recorded as 11.0 degrees Celsius while as the minimum temperature was recorded as 4.8 degrees Celsius. "In Jammu the maximum temperature was recorded as 22.9 degrees Celsius while as the minimum temperature was recorded as 14.8 degrees Celsius."

Meanwhile, the 434 kilometres long Srinagar-Leh national highway remained closed for the second day today. The road connecting Bandipora with Gurez has also been closed by the authorities and it would be reopened only when the weather condition improved.

"Both the Srinagar-Leh national highway and Bandipora-Gurez road have been closed due to the snowfall and slippery conditions. The road connecting Machil and Tangdhar areas with rest of the Valley has also been closed due to snowfall. As and when the weather improved, these routes would be thrown open for vehicular traffic," said Aamir Ali, Head Disaster Management Centre, Kashmir and OSD with Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.

Aamir asked people not to undertake journey on the closed routes saying that the same would be full of risks. "As on today the routes are closed and people should undertake the journey only when the weather improved. They should cooperate with administration as their safety is our prime concern."

The MeT department has already issued travel advisory for people traveling on Srinagar-Leh highway and Bandipora-Gurez road as moderate to heavy snowfall is expected at some places on these routes till Friday morning. The department has asked people to exercise maximum restraint while traveling on both these routes.

"People living in snow-bound areas along the Srinagar-Leh highway and Bandipora-Gurez road should take extra precautions while traveling around. The people traveling to these areas should also take precautions as it is expected that some areas would experience moderate to heavy snowfall till the morning of November 11 (Friday)," said Sonam Lotus, Director MeT office, Srinagar.

He said travel advisories are issued to people living in the snow-bound only when there are apprehensions of heavy snowfall. He said the same situation persisted in some of the areas along Pir Panjal range adding that people should be cautious until the warning persists.

It would be in place to mention here that entire Kashmir valley has been engulfed by a thick blanket of black clouds since November 8. This has led to the increase in the cold wave conditions across the Valley and the day temperature has gone down over the past three days.

The weatherman has forcast improvement in the weather on Friday afternoon while some reports suggested that there would be more rains on Saturday with Sunday once again being cloudy.