Rains lashed Kashmir for the second consecutive day on Thursday while the higher reaches received a fresh spell of snowfall, bringing down the temperatures further. The Meteorological Department has predicted the ongoing wet spell to continue till Monday and a significant improvement in weather from Tuesday.
While it started raining in summer capital Srinagar in the morning, intensity of the rainfall picked up during the day with 15.7 millimetre rainfall recorded on Thursday.
The Valley higher reaches including popular ski-resort Gulmarg recorded almost 5 to 7 inches of fresh snowfall, MeT data said. The Meteorological Department forecast has said the ongoing wet spell will continue on Friday with possibility of widespread rainfall likely to affect surface transport.
However, weather is likely to remain dry and cloudy on Saturday after which Sunday and Monday is expected to witness another spell of rainfall, the MeT forecast said. The MeT advisory has warned that inclement weather for the next three days, especially on Friday, could disrupt traffic on various important roads such as 270-kilometre Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. The MeT department has also advised the farmers to postpone all kinds of farm activities till Monday.
Meanwhile as per MeT data, Qazigund recorded almost 5.4 mm rainfall on Thursday while Pahalgam recorded 8.3 mm, Kupwara 27 mm, Kokernag 4.4 mm rainfall. The incessant rainfall has also led to a rise in levels of water in different water bodies. The inclement weather has caused a sharp fall in temperatures after the Valley witnessed pleasant weather in February and first week of this month. The day temperature in Srinagar had touched almost 20 degrees Celsius earlier this month. However, people could be seen once again using woollen clothes and heating appliances for the last three days as temperatures have dropped sharply.
Srinagar recorded 8.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 6.8 degrees Celsius minimum temperature on Wednesday night. As per the MeT department, Gulmarg was the only station which recorded sub-zero temperatures in the Valley on Wednesday night at minus 1.5 degrees Celsius. Amid light snowfall, Gulmarg recorded 0.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday.