STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Jammu on Thursday recorded the coldest night of the season at 2.7 degrees Celsius as the cold wave intensified further in Jammu and Kashmir.
“There is no immediate relief in sight for at least another two to three days,” a Met official said.
Foggy mornings have been adding to the chill in Jammu city over the last four days.
Heavy fog led to poor visibility disrupting flight operations at the Jammu airport on Wednesday till late afternoon. No flight landed there during that time.
The lowest temperature in the state was minus 20 in Kargil. Leh town recorded minus 14.2.
Light rain or snow at isolated places over the next 48 hours may add to the discomfiture, the weatherman said. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, had a low of -3.9 degrees Celsius, a MET department official said.
The mercury in Qazigund in south Kashmir settled at a low of -4.4 degrees Celsius. The nearby town of Kokernag recorded a low of -2.5 degrees Celsius. Kupwara in north Kashmir quivered at -3.6 degrees Celsius. The world famous ski resort of Gulmarg reeled under freezing -6 degrees Celsius.
The night temperature in Pahalgam, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, had a minimum of -4.5 degrees Celsius.
Kargil town in the Ladakh region was the coldest place in J&K at -20 degrees Celsius. Life moved at a snail’s pace in nearby Leh town at -14.2 degrees Celsius. It was the coldest night of the season so far in Leh and Kargil.
A blanket of dense fog enveloped the national capital, delaying 14 flights and 60 trains. “The minimum temperature recorded at 8.30 AM was 5 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal while the humidity was recorded at 100 per cent,” a MeT official said.
The visibility was recorded at 300 meters at 5.30 AM which improved to 500 meters at 8.30 AM.
The weatherman has predicted a clear afternoon with the possibility of maximum temperature settling around 19 degrees Celsius. Airport officials said 14 flights were delayed due to fog.
According to a Railway official, 60 trains were running late due to fog, 18 trains had to be rescheduled and 14 cancelled.