JK to receive light rains, snow as ‘Chilai Kalan’ begins
Srinagar: While ‘Chillai Kalan’, a 40-day harshest winter period began on a dry note on Thursday, the local Meteorological department here has predicted light rains or snow at scattered places over the state in the next 24 hours.
Talking to ‘Kashmir Vision’, an official in the Meteorological (MeT) department said that there is possibility that the mercury would go up in the next upcoming days. “We are predicting light rains or snow at scattered places over the state in the next 24 hours,” he said.
He said that the weather would mostly remain cloudy for some days but there is no prediction of heavy rains or snow at any place over the state.
Chilai Kalan, the 40-day harshest winter period when chances of snowfall and rains happen to be the maximum and frequent, started in Kashmir on Thursday.
During this period, the people usually take extra measures including putting on extra layers of clothing, topped by a ‘Pheran’ (a traditional knee-length cloak), to fight the bone-chilling cold.
The people of Kashmir during this period usually prefer to take dried vegetables as the snow or heavy rains in the Valley often result in the frequent closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road connecting valley with rest of the country.
However, the air traffic also gets affected due to the bad weather.
In past week, the air traffic was suspended twice due to the bad weather conditions.
The 40-day harshest winter period will end in the last week of January but it doesn’t mark the end of chill in Kashmir. Chillai Kalan is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chilla Bachha’ (baby cold).
KV Correspondent
