Maximum temperatures rise above normal, though minimum temp dips at night; Traffic from Jammu towards Srinagar today

SRINAGAR: After witnessing an increase in night temperatures over the past three days, Kashmir valley experienced quite a warm day on Saturday after over a month with maximum temperatures touching 10.8 degree Celsius in Srinagar, nearly two notches above the normal.
The minimum temperatures too remained above the freezing point for the third straight day in Srinagar on Saturday. As per weather officials, Srinagar city recorded minimum temperature of 0.6 degree Celsius, slightly down from 1.0 degree Celsius on the previous night.
Weather officials said that it was in the last week of December that maximum temperature of above 10 degrees was last recorded in Srinagar city.
Interestingly, Kupwara in north Kashmir was the warmest place in Kashmir valley on Saturday with maximum temperature of 13.3 degree Celsius, nearly 5 notches higher than the normal.
Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a maximum temperature of 6.2 degree Celsius and Qazigund recorded maximum temperature of 10.5 degree Celsius, one notch higher than the normal. Its neighbouring Kokernag recorded a maximum of 7.6 degree Celsius.
Gulmarg recorded the lowest maximum temperature in Kashmir at 2.4 degree Celsius, which was one degree higher than the normal at this time of year.
Night temperatures, though, dipped across Kashmir valley on Saturday. Gulmarg remained the coldest place in Kashmir on Saturday with mercury settling at a low of minus 10.4 degree Celsius, down from minus 9.4 degree Celsius on the earlier night. Qazigund recorded minus 3.2 degree Celsius, down from minus 0.8 degree Celsius a night before.
Pahalgam recorded minus 6.3 degree Celsius, down from minus 3.6 degree Celsius on the previous night. Kokernag recorded a low of minus 2.5 degree Celsius as against minus 1.3 degree Celsius a night before. Kupwara in North Kashmir recorded minus 1.8 degree Celsius, down from 0.8 degree Celsius on the previous night.
The weatherman has predicted mainly dry weather across Kashmir valley till 8th of February. The dip in night temperatures was also predicted by the department for the days leading up to Feb 8.
Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu National highway will ply from Jammu towards Srinagar on Sunday. The traffic department said that subject to fair weather and road conditions, only one-way traffic will be allowed from Jammu towards Srinagar including the local traffic plying in Ramban and Banihal.
It added that no vehicle shall be allowed in the opposite direction including ones carrying livestock and perishable commodities, while underlining that the weight-bearing capacity of the installed Bailey bridge is less than 40 metric tonnes.
Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs), it said, shall be allowed from 8 AM in the morning till 12 PM in the afternoon from Nagrota in Jammu towards Kashmir and subsequently from Jakheni in Udhampur from 9 AM to 1 PM. Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) shall be allowed from Jakheni in Udhampur towards Jammu after the clearance of LMVs.