The fresh snowfall in the Valley on Monday led to the cancellation of all flights at the Srinagar international airport. Director of Srinagar airport Kuldeep Singh said that all 68 flights — 34 arrivals and 34 departures — had to be cancelled.
Singh said that all the flights were cancelled due to low visibility and continuous snowfall in Srinagar.
The heavy snowfall started across Kashmir on Sunday night and continued till Monday afternoon, bringing normal life to a standstill. The Jammu division, comprising Jammu, Banihal, Batote, Katra, Bhadarwah, Kathua, and Mirpur, was lashed by rain on Monday.
The Kashmir division comprises Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam, Kupwara, Kukernag, Gulmarg, Konibal, Munawar Abad, and Leh.
Jammu & Kashmir received moderate snowfall on Monday, bringing down the temperature. The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the inclement weather conditions would continue at least for the next 24 hours.
Srinagar on Monday recorded a maximum temperature of 8°C and a minimum temperature of -0.2°C. The city received 12.5 mm of snowfall and 31.8 mm of rainfall over the last 24 hours. The maximum temperature is expected to dip further on Tuesday, going down to 4°C.
The temperature in Jammu was a bit on the higher side, with the maximum temperature going up to 19.1°C and the minimum temperature hovering around 10.4°C.
According to The Weather Channel, the Jammu-Srinagar highway was shut because of cascading stones and mudslides at several locations on the Ramban-Banihal stretch. This is the main road that links Srinagar to the rest of the country.
The poor visibility also hit railway traffic in Kashmir. Trains on the Baramulla-Banihal route were suspended due to accumulation of snow on the tracks.
The current winter conditions are part of the Chillai Kalan, which is a 40-day period when Kashmir faces its harshest winter. This period begins on December 21 and ends on January 31 the next year. The temperature begins rising after that, but the snowfall continues.