Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Jan 24: The cold in Jammu today broke all the old records of last over 100 years as the city recorded the lowest ever, 0.5 degree Celsius temperature while entire north region continued to reel under intense cold wave and dense fog, severely affecting the train and air traffic.
The winter capital city-Jammu, continued to remain colder than summer capital-Srinagar, for the last five consecutive days whereas, due to dense fog, the Sun was not visible at all in most of the plain areas of Jammu region and parts of Punjab. The bone-chilling cold has restricted the movement of the people inside their houses.
Director, Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus told the Excelsior that Jammu today recorded the lowest ever minimum temperature of 0.5 degree Celsius. “The temperature in Jammu today has broken all the previous records in last one century. On January 11, 1945, Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 0.6 degree Celsius. Now, after about 70 years, the temperature in Jammu has even gone below 0.6 degree Celsius,” Lotus maintained.
Giving more details, Mr Lotus said that on January 15, 2001, Jammu had recorded a minimum temperature of 0.8 degree Celsius, which was lowest during the last three decades. Again, on January 22, 2008, Jammu had recorded a minimum temperature of 1.2 degree Celsius. During 2015 winters, the lowest temperature recorded in Jammu was, 4.1 degree Celsius. Continuous fog in last one week has restricted the solar radiations to reach earth in plain areas of Jammu. It has caused sharp fall in the temperature in this region, he added.
Lotus disclosed that from tomorrow, there will be slight improvement in the night as well as the day temperature in Jammu. He disclosed that the weather will be mainly dry in Kashmir and most of the hilly areas of Jammu region but dense fog would continue to hover over the plains of Jammu region and Punjab till January 27. He predicted some snowfall and rain in Kashmir and most of the parts of Jammu region on January 29 and 30. The foggy conditions will also improve after January 28, the Met Director maintained.
Meanwhile, a Met official said that Jammu recorded a maximum temperature of 8.6 degree Celsius which is nearly 11 degree below normal. Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature 14.1 degree Celsius today and it was good sunny day there. Jammu’s day temperature was nearly 6 degrees lower than the Srinagar. Moreover, the night temperature in Jammu was nearly 6 degrees below normal.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.5 degree Celsius, Pahalgam tourist resort minimum minus 7.1 degree C and maximum 10.1 degree Celsius, world famous ski-resort Gulmarg experienced minimum minus 3.5 degree Celsius temperature, Kupwara minus 5.0 degree C and maximum 13.3 degree Celsius, Bhaderwah in Jammu region minimum minus 1.1 degree Celsius, Katra Mata Vaishnodevi minimum 4.6 degree Celsius and maximum 16.1 degree Celsius while Batote recorded a maximum 15.2 degree Celsius and minimum 2.6 degree Celsius temperature.
Kargil town in Ladakh region, recorded the lowest of minus 16.6 degree Celsius temperature in the State today, followed by minus 15.8 degree Celsius in Leh town. The maximum temperature at Kargil was minus 11 degree Celsius today.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman from Jammu Airport said that due to dense fog and poor visibility the flights could land only at after 12.15 pm today. He said all the four morning flights were late by one to three and half hours late today while evening flight also departed about an hour late from its original schedule for Delhi. The first Indigo flight coming from Delhi at around 9 am had to be diverted to Srinagar as it was sunny day there. Here in Jammu the visibility was very poor. Spicejet was the first flight which could land at 12.15 pm. He said all the 17 flights got operated from Jammu airport today.
A Northern Railway spokesman said that all the trains were late by one to six hours since last night due to dense fog. Kanpur-Udhampur Express was late by six hours, Jammu Mail and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur by nearly five hours, Anand Vihar -Jammu by nearly three hours, Kota-Katra Express and Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur DMU by two hours, Sarvodhya Express by three hours and 20 minutes, Hemkund Express by two and half hours and Uttar Sampark Kranti by four hours. Huge rush of passengers has been witnessed at Jammu Railway Station due to rescheduling in the train timings.
With the dense fog, the inter-state bus service has also been badly hit. Most of the buses are reaching two to four hours late here. The number of road accidents in north India have also increased due to dense fog and poor visibility in last one week, the spokesman added.
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