Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Wednesday recorded the hottest day of the season as the mercury, for the first time, crossed the 40 degree Celsius mark this season, the Meteorological Department said.
The maximum temperature recorded in Jammu was 40.1 degreesCelsius — 3.3 notches above the normal during this time of the season, a MetDepartment official said. He said the minimum temperature in the city alsocontinued its upward trend and settled at 25.5 degrees Celsius, which is 2.5degrees above the normal.
The city had recorded the highest day temperature of 39.1degrees Celsius on April 28 but a fresh spell of rains subsequently led todecrease in the mercury which stayed several degrees below the normal over thepast week.Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrimsvisiting the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, was the second hottestplace in Jammu region with a high of 35.9 degrees Celsius and a low of 22.8degrees Celsius. Banihal and Batote townships along the Jammu-Srinagar nationalhighway recorded a maximum and minimum of 26.3 degrees Celsius and 10.2 degreesCelsius and 28.9 degrees C and 12.8 degrees C, respectively. The weatherman hasforecast mainly clear sky with no drastic change in the temperature Thursday.The official predicted thundershowers and lightening with gusty winds with aspeed of 30 to 50 kms on May 10 and 11 at isolated places.