Kashmir witnessed a significant spike in temperatures on Tuesday, with the summer capital Srinagar recording a day temperature of 30.4?C – the second-highest ever for April in nearly eight decades.
The Meteorological Department said that many weather stations across Kashmir witnessed a rise in maximum temperature, with readings soaring 8 to 11?C above the normal.
MeT said Srinagar recorded a scorching 30.4?C – the second-highest maximum temperature ever recorded in the city for the month of April. The all-time highest April temperature for Srinagar remains 31.1?C, recorded on April 20, 1946.
Qazigund, the gateway to the Kashmir Valley, too experienced an exceptional heatwave, recording 29.8?C – the third-highest April temperature in the station’s recorded history.
Kupwara in North and Kokarnag in south recorded maximum day temperatures of 29.5? and 27.5? Celsius respectively. The day temperatures in two tourist resorts Gulmarg and Pahalgam were 20.7 degree Celsius and 25.4 degree Celsius respectively.
The minimum temperatures remained above normal across most parts of Jammu and Kashmir during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
In the Kashmir division, the tourist resort of Pahalgam recorded the lowest minimum temperature at 5.0?C, while Banihal registered the lowest in the Jammu division at 11.3?C.
Overall, night temperatures were 2 to 5?C above the seasonal average in both divisions, MeT said.
Meanwhile, a fresh wet spell is expected across Jammu and Kashmir from Thursday which is likely to bring widespread rain in both regions.
The MeT said the forecast is mainly dry weather for the next 24 hours, with a possibility of isolated light rain or thundershowers over the subsequent two days.
“Dry weather is expected to prevail across most parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. From Wednesday onwards, there are chances of light and scattered rain or thundershowers in isolated areas,” a MeT official said.
The impact of the approaching wet spell is expected to be more on April 18 and 19.
MeT said Kashmir is likely to experience widespread rainfall during this period, while the Jammu region is expected to witness fairly widespread precipitation.
