Rains lash Kashmir; bring temps down

Rains lashed Kashmir valley for the second day on Tuesday bringing down temperatures to below normal. The meteorological centre has predicted heavy rains for the next two days.Intermittent light to moderate rains were recorded in the morning after overnight rain which started on Monday evening.The MeT said that 9.8 mm rains has been recorded in summer capital Srinagar from Monday evening till Tuesday evening. “The highest of 24.4 mm rainfall was witnessed in the northern resort of Gulmarg,” a MeT official said.The rains have brought down day temperatures below normal by several degrees across Kashmir.Srinagar recorded a maximum of 23.9 degree Celsius, some 6.2 degrees below normal. Kupwara in North Kashmir witnessed day temperature of 22.6 degree Celsius while Gulmarg witnessed 14.6 degree Celsius.The MeT predicted intermittent spells of rain to continue till July 17 with heavy rains at a few places as well.There is possibility of intense showers at few places of J&K with heavy rains at isolated places of Jammu division during 15 to 17,” said an update by MeT.There are chances of flash floods, mudslides and shooting stones at few vulnerable places, it said.Independent weather spotter, Faizan Arif said that two weather systems are converging over Kashmir which will bring heavy rains.“A low-pressure zone over Rajasthan is expected to shift further north over the next 24 hours. Simultaneously, a western disturbance in the form of a trough at 300 mb is moving eastward towards Kashmir. As a result, the interaction between these two weather systems is set to intensify within the next 24 hours ,” he said on his Kashmir_weather handle.