Rains Continue To Lash J&K, ‘Windy’ Weather Predicted

Srinagar, Apr 16: Rains continue to lash Jammu and Kashmir Valley even as the meteorological department on Friday said that the weather will turn “windy” towards afternoon till April 17.

A meteorological department official told GNS that Srinagar received 9.7mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours till 0830 a.m.

The minimum temperature settled at 7.9°C against 7.8°C on the previous night while the summer capital of J&K recorded a maximum of 10.6°C, minus 9.5°C below normal.

Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, received 2.0mm of rain and recorded a low of 7.4°C and maximum of 12.6°C against normal of 19.9°C, the official said.

Pahalgam received 10.1mm during the time while the famous resort in south Kashmir recorded a minimum of 3.4°C and maximum of 8.9°C against 20.5°C normal for this time of the year, he said.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, received 2.6mm of rain and recorded a low of 6.0°C against previous night’s 6.5°C and maximum of 12.0°C which was minus 6.2°C below normal, the official said.

Kupwara received 16.8mm of rain while the north Kashmir district recorded a low of 6.3°C against 6.6°C on the previous night and maximum of 9.9°C, the official said.

Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, received 18.4mm of rain and recorded a low of 1.0°C against 0.5°C on the previous night which was minus 1.3°C below normal, the official said.

Jammu district received 0.9mm of rain, Banihal 6.0mm, Batote 3.0mm, Katra 0.4mm, Bhaderwah 8.7mm and Kathua 0.0mm, the official added.

Director Meteorological department Sonam Lotus said that “erratic weather” shall continue till the weekend.

“Weather to remain partly to generally cloudy, turning windy towards afternoon till April 17th in both Districts,” he said, adding, “Light snow is expected at isolated to scattered places of Kargil district mainly on higher reaches mainly along Drass -Zojila etc. and at isolated places on higher reaches of Leh district,” he said.

The weather department has also issued ‘yellow warning for “isolated thunder/lightning with gusty wind 30- 40-kmph” for both Jammu and Kashmir divisions till April 17. There are four types of colour codes signifying the level of caution: green which means no action, yellow—situation to be watched), amber –government agencies need to be prepared for severe weather and red –action needed by the agencies. The weather department in a statement issued here said that dry weather is expected on April 19 while “fairly widespread rain” is expected on April 20 and widespread rains have been forecast on April 22 and 22 respectively. (GNS)