Srinagar, Jun 05: Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds in Kashmir today brought respite from the heat wave conditions here bringing down the day temperature significantly.
Heavy rain and gusty winds were reported from many parts of Kashmir where the maximum temperature was mostly eight degrees above normal for the past couple of days, officials said.
Yesterday, the Meteorological department had declared a heat wave across Kashmir with Srinagar recording the season’s highest temperature of 34.4 degrees Celsius, 8.1 degrees above normal.
Give that the MeT department had predicted no relief for the next few days from the scorching heat, today’s rain came as a pleasant surprise.
Meanwhile the night temperature in Jammu touched the season’s high at 33.2 degrees Celsius, while cloud cover accompanied by gusty winds engulfed the city which has been reeling under heat wave conditions for the past fortnight.
Some parts of the city witnessed a brief spell of rain before the gusty winds started blowing, while hailstorm and heavy rains were reported from various districts, including Poonch and Rajouri, during the day, officials said.
After recording a low of 31.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, the minimum temperature in the city of temples continued its upward trend and settled at 33.2 degrees Celsius, 7.5 notches above normal, a spokesman of the MeT department said.
The city had recorded the highest night temperature on June 4, 2003 when the mercury had hit 34.3 degrees Celsius mark.
The maximum temperature in the city, however, marked a slight decline to settle at 39.7 degrees Celsius, which is normal during this part of the season, the spokesman said.
He said Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, continued to be the second hottest recorded place in the Jammu region.
The town recorded a high of 37.5 degrees Celsius and a low of 29.2 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
