Srinagar, Jan 5: While the Valley continues to remain gripped in freezing cold, weathermen on Tuesday said weather is likely to remain dry for at least next four days. 
 However they said that the higher areas of Valley and Jammu might remain engulfed in thick fog during morning which is likely to disrupt flights and vehicular traffic.
 “Though weather will remain cold and cloudy, there would be no rainfall or snow in the Valley atleast for the next four days,” Director Meteorological department, Sonam Lotus told Greater Kashmir.
 The Metrological department has a mechanism to forecast weather for only 3-4 days. Pertinently, Kashmir Valley on Sunday received this year’s first snowfall, ending nearly two months of dry spell. Since then Valley has been reeling under intense cold and frequent power cuts.
 Lotus said due to temperature inversion dense fog will engulf many areas the State. “Foggy conditions will persist usually in mornings in some areas of the State. However fog will mostly affect Jammu. It can disrupt the flights and vehicular movement. However with the increase in temperature and wind speed as the day progresses, the visibility will be clear,” he said. 
 On Tuesday the Valley had a cloud cover of 57 percent with maximum temperature of 5.5 degrees Celsius and minimum dipping to -2.  
 The Srinagar-Jammu Highway was closed on Sunday afternoon following heavy snowfall which led to slippery road conditions at Jawahar Tunnel and Banihal. On Monday authorities has regulated the vehicular movement on the highway allowing only stranded vehicles to proceed.
 The head of Disaster Management Cell, Aamir Ali told Greater Kashmir that the highway was today opened for two-way traffic. He said despite forecast for dry weather for next four days, the Government will take precautions while allowing traffic on the highway.
 “Traffic on the highway will be allowed after assessing the visibility and road condition,” said Aamir, who is also Officer on Special Duty in Divisional Commissioner’s office.
 With the onset of winter, authorities claim to have geared by setting up special control rooms to monitor effective management of snow clearance and disaster management. Pertinently the Government was caught unaware in 2005 when the snow avalanches killed over 200 persons in Waltengoo Nar in south Kashmir’s Islamabad district.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jan 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jan 2010 00:00:00 IST