Continuous Rainfall: Srinagar records coldest June in 48 years
Jmu-Sgr highway closes for traffic
Srinagar: Continuous rainfall over the past four days has resulted in the mercury staying around 14 notches below the normal for the month of June in Srinagar even as an independent weather forecaster claimed that the city recorded its coldest June day in nearly 48 years.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Srinagar, the city recorded a maximum temperature of just 15 degrees Celsius.
“This is 14.2 degrees below normal for the month of June in Srinagar,” an official of the IMD Srinagar told PTI.
The minimum temperature recorded in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir was 13.3 degrees Celsius.
Faizan Arif, an independent weather forecaster who operates @Kashmir_Weather Twitter handle, claimed that Srinagar has experienced its coldest June day in at least 48 years.
“Srinagar, recorded a max. temperature of 15.0 C on Tuesday, which is the coldest June day since at least 1975. The temp. remained 14.2 C below the normal. A temperature of 15.0 C is very common in February for Srinagar,” Arif tweeted.
The IMD Srinagar officials said they cannot verify the claim made by Arif as the data centre “has closed for the day” while the official website has record only for past 10 years.
A visit to the website only provided data for hottest June days for the past 10 years.
The IMD officials said the temperature has steadily dropped over the past four days across Kashmir valley due to continuous rainfall in plains and snowfall in mountainous areas of the valley.
While predicting an overall improvement in the weather from June 23 onwards, a meteorological department official here said that there was possibility of heavy rain at “scattered places” of South Kashmir and Jammu region from Tuesday afternoon to forenoon on Wednesday.
Deputy Director Meteorological department (MeT), Mukhtar Ahmad said that the weather conditions would improve from tomorrow afternoon.
Meanwhile, he said, Srinagar received 2.8 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours today and recorded a low of 13.3°C against 13.5°C on the previous night. The temperature, he said, was 2.5°C below normal during this time of the year for the summer capital.
Qazigund had 1.4 mm of rainfall during the time and recorded a low of 12.0°C against 10.4°C on the previous night. The temperature was 2.3°C ‘below’ normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said.
Pahalgam received 2.9 mm of rainfall during the time and recorded a minimum of 8.6°C against 7.6°C on the previous night. The temperature was 0.5°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir during this time of the season, he said.
Kokernag had 3.0 mm of rain and recorded a low of 11.1°C against 9.3°C on the previous night. It was 3.0°C ‘below’ normal for the place in south Kashmir during this time of the season, the official said.
Gulmarg received 12.4 mm of rain during the time and recorded a low of 4.6°C against 4.4°C on the previous night, the official said. While 10.2°C is normal for the world famous skiing resort during this time of the season, the official said that the temperature was 5.6°C below normal for the famous place in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Kupwara town in north Kashmir received 6.7 mm of rainfall and recorded a low of 11.3°C against 11.8°C on the previous night. The temperature was 2.8°C below normal for the district, the official said.
Jammu had 1.0 mm of rain and recorded a low of 22.2°C against 23.0°C on the previous night, the official said.
The temperature was 4.3°C ‘below’ normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. Banihal had 4.6 mm of rain and recorded a low of 11.6°C; Batote had 4.7 mm of rain and recorded a low of 12.0°C; Katra received 1.2 mm of rain and recorded low of 20.4°C while Bhadarwah received 5.2 mm of rain and had a minimum of 12.1°C, the official said.
Meanwhile, traffic on either side of Srinagar-Jammu highway was stopped after the fresh rainfall triggered shooting stones along the road.
The officials said that the shooting stones occurred at Panthyal area following which the traffic on either side was stopped as precautionary measure. However, the traffic remained suspended as rains continued along the highway. (with inputs from PTI, KNO, GNS)
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