Srinagar, Jan 28 : As the 40-day harsh winter period, Chilla-i-Kalan, nears to an end, the weather department on Saturday issued a yellow warning for heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir on January 30. A meteorological department official here told GNS that light snow and rain was expected at scattered places in the next 24 hours. On January 30, the MeT department forecast widespread moderate snow and rain ( in Jammu) with “heavy” snowfall in Pirpanjal, South Kashmir, Doda-Kistawar etc.( more than 75% chances) On January 31, the MeT official said, light to moderate snow and rain was expected at scattered places. There are four types of colour codes signifying the level of caution: green which means no action, yellow—situation to be watched, orange–government agencies need to be prepared for severe weather and red –action needed by the agencies. He said the weather system may cause snow avalanches in the areas prone to them. It may likely to affect surface and air transportation on Monday, he said. Power supply may also get affected. “People are advised not to venture out in avalanche prone areas, unless emergency,” he said, adding, “Passengers are advised to travel after confirmation of road status from concerned traffic police”. Regarding temperature, he said that Srinagar recorded a low of 1.7°C against 1.2°C on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 2.7°C for the summer capital. Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of 0.2°C against minus 0.6°C on the previous night and it was 2.8°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir. Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 6.9°C against minus 4.3°C on the previous night and it was 0.8°C below normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.7°C against minus 0.9°C on the previous night and it was 1.9°C above normal for the place, the officials said. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 7.2°C against minus 8.6°C on the previous night and it was 0.3°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said. In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 2.6°C against minus 3.7°C on the previous night and it was above 0.1°C below normal for the north Kashmir area. Jammu recorded a low of 6.1°C against 5.5°C on the previous night. It was 2.6°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. Banihal recorded a low of minus 0.4°C (below normal by 0.2°C), Batote 1.7°C (above normal by 0.8°C), Katra 6.6°C (0.3°C below normal) and Bhadarwah minus 1.4°C (0.6°C below normal). Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 13.6°C and minus 14.8°C respectively, the official said. Kashmir is under the grip of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21. It does not mean an end to the winter either. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
