Srinagar: Flight operations at the Srinagar Airport remained suspended for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday as all flights to and from the Valley were cancelled due to dense fog.
All 26 flights at the Srinagar Airport were cancelled on Wednesday and no flight operations took place for the sixth consecutive day,” said Director Srinagar Airport, Santosh Dhoke.
He said the visibility at the airport was very poor due to fog and it was not suitable for flight operations.
“The visibility at the airport was around 100 to 500 meters while as required visibility is 1000 to 1200 meters which is the main reason for flight cancellations for last six days,” he added.
Around 100 flights were grounded as dense layer of fog has affected air traffic. This has left hundreds of travellers stranded both in Srinagar and outside the Valley.
Though Meteorological department (MeT) said that there was an improvement in visibility after upper reaches including Gulmarg received light snowfall.
Snowfall in Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam and upper reaches started from Tuesday night and continued on Wednesday.
The weather department has predicted more snow and rains both in upper reaches and plains including Srinagar.
Director Metrological Department Sonam Lotus told Kashmir Reader that they are expecting moderate snow in plains. But it would be moderate to heavy snow on higher reaches starting from December 12.
He said that it would continue till December 13 across the Valley.
This might disrupt both air traffic as well as Srinagar-Jammu highway, which connects Kashmir to outside world. Last month, a heavy snowfall triggered widespread losses and affected road as well as aerial connectivity to the Valley.
The department has issued an orange warning for the twin Union Territories for Thursday and Friday, predicting moderate to heavy snowfall and rain under the influence of western disturbance which had hit the region.
“Light snowfall occurred at high altitude areas including the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Pahalgam in south and Sonamarg,” the official said.
Due to overcast conditions, the night temperature across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh marked an improvement and settled close to the season’s average after hovering several degrees below normal during the past week.
Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, continued to be the coldest place in Ladakh with a low of minus 15.3 degrees Celsius against the previous night’s minus 19.0 degrees Celsius.
Leh recorded an improvement of over two notches in the night temperature which settled at minus 11.5 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature also improved in Srinagar, which was reeling under dense fog and cold wave conditions over the past week, to settle at minus 1.4 degrees Celsius — 0.8 degrees below normal during this part of the season, the official said.
The city had recorded a maximum of 3.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the lowest so far which was seven notches below the season’s average.
The winter capital, Jammu, recorded a near normal night temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding the day temperature in the city had marked an improvement on Tuesday and settled at 19.4 degrees Celsius against the previous day’s 16.7 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 2.3 in Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, the official said.

Reader correspondent