Unrelenting heat persisted in the Kashmir Valley on Friday, when the temperature in Srinagar reached a seasonal high and tied the warmest June day in a decade.
The highest recorded temperature in Srinagar was 35.0 degrees Celsius, 5.8 degrees Celsius above average for the time of year, according to a meteorological department official.
The official said that today’s temperature was the hottest day in June in the last decade, surpassing the previous high of 34.8°C set only yesterday.
He said that the temperature in the summer capital of J&K had never reached such heights in the preceding decade, with the exception of 3 June 2018, when it also reached 35.0°C.
He said that temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius or more were also reported in Pahalgam, Qazigund, Kokernag, Kupwara, and Gulmarg.
He said that a June day in Kokernag was the hottest in almost a decade. According to him, the famed tourist site of Pahalgam in south Kashmir saw temperatures exceeding 30.0°C on June 9, 2021, making it the second hottest June day in the previous 10 years.
The official said that Srinagar had a low of 21.0°C, which was above typical by 5.2°C for the summer capital, compared to the low of 20.5°C the night before.
According to him, the temperature at Qazigund, the entrance to Kashmir, dropped to 19.0 degrees Celsius rather than the 17.2 degrees Celsius recorded the night before.
He said that Pahalgam had a low of 10.6 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees higher than average, compared to the 11.3 degrees Celsius recorded the night before.
According to him, the mercury in Kupwara town dipped to 17.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, up from 17.4 degrees the night before; this is 3.7 degrees Celsius warmer than average for the region of north Kashmir.
The nighttime low temperature in Kokernag was 19.3 degrees Celsius, which is 5.2 degrees Celsius higher than average for the area, according to the authorities.
According to him, the famed ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district had a low of 15.4 degrees Celsius, which is 5.2 degrees Celsius warmer than average.
When compared to the previous night’s low of 27.8 degrees, Jammu’s 31.2 degree temperature was 5.1 degrees above typical for J&K’s winter capital.
The low temperature was 21.1 degrees Celsius in Banihal, 22.4 degrees Celsius in Batote, 27.0 degrees Celsius in Katra, and 20.8 degrees Celsius in Bhaderwah, all of which were above average by 5,9 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperatures in Ladakh were 8.8 degrees in Leh and 16.5 degrees in Kargil, he added.
Cloudy skies with occasional light rain and thunderstorms are predicted for the Jammu and Kashmir Division on June 24th, he added.
He predicted gloomy conditions with occasional mild to moderate thundershowers from June 25-28.
He predicted that beginning on June 24th, the “current heat wave” will subside.
