A dense blanket of fog enveloped large parts of Kashmir, severely disrupting flight operations at Srinagar airport, officials reported on Friday. With visibility dropping to nearly 300 meters, multiple flights faced delays, and one had to be diverted due to the poor visibility conditions.
Despite the adverse weather conditions, flights resumed to work in the afternoon as visibility got improved. The first flight managed to land at 11:48 AM, reinstating the to and from connectivity from the valley. As per norms, it is mandatory to have a minimum visibility of 1,100 meters for safe flight operations.
Apart from facing disruption in air travel, the fog also created difficulties for local residents who were travelling across the valley. As per the Met Department, light snowfall at isolated higher elevations is expected on Friday. Moreover, light snowfall is expected to take place in Jammu-Kashmir because of a strong western disturbance from Saturday.
Kashmir Weather Update
Night temperatures were at record highs in several parts of Kashmir. The famous tourist skiing place Gulmarg in north Kashmir dealt with minimum temperatures of 4.5 degrees Celsius, recording a major surge from the previous night of -8.6 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Pahalgam, which serves as a camp base for the annual Amarnath Yatra, had a minimum of -4.6 degrees Celsius.
Srinagar measured a decline of -2.2 degrees Celsius, a little warmer compared to last night’s 2.6 degrees Celsius. The coldest location declared in the valley was Qazigund with a freezing -7.3 degrees Celsius while Konibal in Pampore had -5.6 degrees Celsius.
At present, Kashmir is experiencing ‘Chillai-Kalan’, which is considered to be the hardest 40-day winter duration that commenced on December 21. During this period, frequent snowfall and extreme cold can be experienced. This phase will continue till January 30, after which the valley will receive a comparatively milder 20-day known as ‘Chillai-Khurd (small cold) and a 10-day ‘Chillai-Baccha (baby cold).
(With inputs from PTI)