Srinagar: Amid fresh snowfall at several places in the Valley, intermittent rainfall in the last few days brought down mercury considerably across the Union Territory with few stations including Qazigund and Kokernag in south Kashmir and Banihal in Jammu division recording huge precipitation in the last 24 hours.
According to the available data, news agency KNO reported that the twin stations in south Kashmir — Qazigund and Kokernag – recorded the highest rainfall in the last 24 hours after a gap of 13 years, clinching 49.8 mm and 62.2 mm rainfall respectively.
The data shared by the Meteorological (MeT) department here, reveals that Banihal in Jammu division recorded a rainfall of 40.2 mm in the last 24 hours after a gap of 10 years.
As per the data, J&K had received the highest-ever 24-hour rainfall of 66.2 mm in the month of May on 23rd in the year 1987.
The data shows that the average rainfall of 16.8 mm was recorded in Jammu & Kashmir in the last 24 hours.
The data also shows that the highest rainfall of 88.0 mm in Qazigund was recorded on May 23, 1965.
In Kokernag, the highest rainfall of 67.7 mm was recorded on May 29, 2010.
At Banihal station, the highest-ever rainfall of 24 hours was recorded on May 23, 1965 at 101.6 mm, which is nearly 60 percent less than what has been recorded in the last 24 hours.
Srinagar, the summer capital, recorded a rainfall of 1.6 mm in the last 24 hours till 08:30 AM today while Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a rainfall of 15.1 mm, the data reveals.
As per the data, Gulmarg recorded a rainfall of 10.8 mm in the last 24 hours while Bataote in Jammu division has recorded a rainfall of 20.3 mm.
Deputy Director, MeT, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad said that there was nothing new in the frequent wet spells in the month of May. “The precipitation in the month of May has not been witnessed in the past couple of years, but that doesn’t mean that the rainfall during this month is unusual,” he said.
Last year in the month of May, Jammu & Kashmir had recorded a cumulative rainfall of 124.5 mm.
Meanwhile, Director MeT, Sonum Lotus said that there would be significant improvement in the weather conditions from tomorrow. He said the weather would remain mainly dry but the rains and thunderstorms in the late afternoon or evenings cannot be ruled out at some places.
From May 10-15, the weather would remain mainly dry while the temperature would also go up as the warmer days are expected from May 10 onwards, he informed.
Owing to the wet conditions in the last few days, the day temperature has plummeted considerably in parts of J&K. An independent weather forecaster, Faizan Arif Keng said that February-like weather conditions were witnessed in parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
In Srinagar, he said that the day temperature settled at 13.6 degree Celsius, which is 10.0 degree Celsius below normal during this part of the year. He said the mercury settled at 2.2 degree Celsius in Gulmarg, which is 12.0 degree Celsius below normal, while Pahalgam recorded a maximum temperature of 8.1 degree Celsius, which is 12.1 degree Celsius below normal.
Many other stations like Qazigund, Kokernag, Kupwara, Jammu, Banihal, Batote, Bhaderwah and Katra also recorded below normal temperature today. (With inputs from KNO)
