80%DEFICIT RAINFALL IN J&K THIS YEAR: IMD

SRINAGAR: : Jammu and Kashmir recorded 80 percent less rainfall than normal this year, weather officials said on Sunday.

They said that this year J&K received largely 80% deficient rain due to the absence of any strong western disturbance or the winds blowing from the Mediterranean bringing moisture. Sonam Lotus, director of meteorological centre, J&K, said that the cities of Jammu and Srinagar were largely dry this year.

“Jammu city received only 2.1mm rains against normal of 68 mm and Srinagar city received 21.3mm of rainfall as against normal of 117.6mm,” Lotus said.

However, he said, the phenomenon was nothing new. “This is not the first time that below normal rainfall was recorded in J&K,” he said.

The lack of a strong weather system and deficit rainfall also led to an increase in normal temperatures this year.

“As a result of the absence of any strong western disturbance and stable atmosphere, weather remained fair and mainly clear on most occasions which led to early onset of spring and above normal temperatures compared to last few years,” Lotus said.

He said that the mean temperature in Jammu city in March 2022 was 23.3 and 13.7 in Srinagar which is quite high.

However, these high temperatures are not unusual as the mean temperature even touched 24 in Jammu in 2004 & 2010 and in Srinagar the mean temperatures touched 13.6 & 13.7 in 2004 & 2010.

However, the weather office expects a brief spell of rainfall in the coming week. “A brief spell of light rain is likely during April 13-14 at scattered places,” he said. Not only the spring, Kashmir’s winter this year was less severe than in the past three years.