Rains lash Kashmir, temperatures plunge

Srinagar: Giving much needed respite from the unusually hot weather in this season, rains lashed Kashmir on Saturday, while the Meteorological Department (MeT) forecast said the ongoing wet spell will continue on Sunday.

The intermittent light rainfall began on Friday night while people in most parts of Kashmir including summer capital Srinagar, woke up to a heavy spell of rainfall on Saturday early morning. It later kept raining intermittently throughout the day.

   

Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said the wet weather was “likely to continue in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on Sunday as well”, adding that a significant improvement in weather was expected from Monday.

However, Lotus said from Monday “no major weather system (major rainfall) was expected till September 19”.

Meanwhile, as per the weather advisory issued by the MeT department, there could be possible “localised landslides, mudslides on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, Mughal Road, Zojila and other major hilly roads” due to the ongoing wet spell.

The MeT advisory has also warned of localised inundation and temporary water logging in low lying areas. It has also said that there could be damage to horticulture and standing crops in some areas due to inundation.

Meanwhile, as per MeT data, Srinagar received 6 millimeters of rainfall and recorded 22.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which is 6 degrees Celsius below the normal.

It may be mentioned that the summer capital has been witnessing scorching heat even during the ongoing month, when temperatures in the past used to be considerably pleasant.

The rainfall for the last two days has also helped to overcome the rain deficit of almost 30 per cent which as per MeT figures, Kashmir has logged between June 1 and September 9.

The rainfall has also caused a sharp decrease in temperatures at the popular ski-resort Gulmarg which recorded 13.4 degrees Celsius, which is 5.7 degrees Celsius below normal. Gulmarg received 16 mm rainfall till 5:30 pm on Saturday, MeT data said.

Moderate to heavy rainfall in other parts of Kashmir also brought down temperatures. Qazigund recorded 20 degrees Celsius and received 11.6 mm of rainfall on Saturday till 5:30 pm, said MeT data. Pahalgam received 7.9 mm, Kokernag 10.2 mm. Banihal received 10.4 mm rainfall while the moderate to heavy spell of rains caused shooting stones at several places on the Srinagar-Jammu National highway. Batote recorded 8.4 mm, Bhaderwah 4.8 mm rainfall on Saturday.

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