Rains continue for second day in J&K

Incessant rains lashed Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) for the second consecutive day on Thursday and brought down the day temperature of Srinagar by six degrees Celsius (C).

The water bodies in the union territory (UT) have also swollen because of the seasonal monsoon rain.

The meteorological department predicted that most parts of J&K would receive moderate to heavy rainfall over the next couple of days.

In the past 24 hours, 123 millimetres (mm) of rainfall was recorded by Jammu’s Katra weather station . While Jammu’s Bantalab and Rajouri weather bureaus received 74 mm of rainfall each.

In the Kashmir Valley, the ski resort of Gulmarg received the highest rainfall of 32.8 mm of rainfall, followed by Srinagar’s Shalimar station (32 mm).

The maximum temperatures have come down across the UT.

In Srinagar, the maximum temperature on Wednesday was recorded at 22.6 degrees C, which is six degrees below normal.

In Jammu, the mercury settled at 29.8 degrees C, which is around three degrees below normal.

The minimum night temperature was 16.8 degrees C in Srinagar, while in Jammu it was 22.5 degrees C.

Though the water level of the Jhelum river is rising at Ram Munshi Bagh and Asham, it is still flowing below the danger mark at key monitoring points in south, central and north Kashmir.

The weather office has predicted that precipitation would lessen from Friday with scattered rainfall. There is a forecast for rainfall at isolated places on Saturday as well.

“The rainfall is expected to continue on Thursday night and the weather may improve from Friday morning. There may be some scattered rainfall on Friday,” said meteorologist M Hussain Mir.

The downpour had started in parts of J&K on Wednesday that caused several landslides on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

Traffic has been suspended on the highway since Tuesday following a landslide.

“A stretch of road caved in at Ramban on Tuesday. The highway is closed for the third consecutive day” said an official at the traffic control room in Srinagar.

He said that the Mughal Road is open for trucks carrying fruits from the Kashmir Valley, and Srinagar-Leh highway is also operational.

The rains have brought relief to farmers reeling under dry weather conditions for the past three months.

So far, Kashmir received scanty rainfall this monsoon that caused a shortage of drinking water across the Valley and also affected the agricultural and horticultural yield. The temperatures have also hovered largely above normal.

On August 17, Srinagar had recorded its highest temperature at 35.7 degrees C, which was six degrees above normal.

It was a record in 39 years.