Owais Gul
Srinagar, Jul 31: The thundershowers and heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir have failed to bring respite from the scorching heat as most parts of Kashmir here have recorded heat wave on Wednesday with Srinagar recording a maximum temperature of 35.1 degree Celsius.
According to reports, four stations across Kashmir out of six have recorded the heat wave today as the mercury settled nearly 5 degrees above the normal temperature.
In Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the mercury settled 5.0 degree Celsius above normal temperature while Qazigund, a gateway of Kashmir, recorded a maximum temperature of 33.0 degree Celsius, which was 5.0 degree above normal.
Pahalgam and Kokernag, the famous tourist destinations, have recorded a maximum temperature of 30.8 degree Celsius and 32.3 degree Celsius respectively. At both the places, the mercury settled 5.0 degree Celsius and 4.6 degree Celsius above normal.
However, the twin stations including Kupwara and Gulmarg continued to witness respite from the heat wave as the mercury settled at 35.2 degree Celsius and 24.0 degree Celsius respectively.
Jammu division however, didn’t witness the heat wave, the data revealed. In Jammu, the mercury settled at 36.2 degree Celsius while in Banihal, it settled at 31.2 degree Celsius.
Batote, Katra and Bhaderwah however recorded a maximum temperature of 29.6 degree Celsius, 33.6 degree Celsius and 33.4 degree Celsius respectively.
Meanwhile, the weatherman has forecasted generally cloudy with spells of intermittent light to moderate rain and thundershower at many places of Kashmir division and most places of Jammu division for the next five days from August 01 to August 05.
Director Meteorological department (MeT), Dr Mukhtar Ahmad said that a spell of rain and thundershower are expected at scattered places on August 06 and August 07 while a spell of rain and thundershowers are expected at isolated places from August 08 to August 10.
In its advisory, the MeT stated that intense showers for a brief period is expected with possibility of flash floods, cloud bursts, landslides, mudslides and shooting stones over vulnerable places of J&K and heavy rainfall at few places of Jammu division.
Moreover, the recent thundershowers at multiple places and heavy rains at some places have brought some relief and brought respite to the people especially farmers, the officials in the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) said.
They said that the recent rainfall has brought relief to the farmers while the water level has also increased in the river Jhelum, adding that the situation at present is under control and that if the rains occur in the next few days, the situation would improve further.
