SRINAGAR: Night temperature recorded further drop on Saturday as more rains lashed J&K with Banihal receiving highest rainfall in Jammu region and Pahalgam in Kashmir Valley during the last 24 hours, officials said. A meteorological department official said that Banihal received 43.8mm of rain during the time till 0830 hours followed by Katra with 37.4mm, Pahalgam 35.4mm, Kokernag 30.2mm, Srinagar 29.7.8mm, Batote 29.2mm, Gulmarg 26.6mm, Qazigund 22.6mm), Kupwara 20.2mm), Bhaderwah 16.0mm, and Jammu 8.0mm. Regarding night temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded a minimum of 6.8°C against 8.2°C on the previous night and it was above normal by 0.7°C for the summer capital of J&K for this time of the year. Qazigund recorded a minimum of 7.2°C against 8.4°C on the previous night and it was 2.5°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said. Pahalgam recorded a low of 1.3°C against 5.0°C on the previous night and it was 0.3°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir. Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of 6.6°C against 7.7°C on the previous night and it was 1.9°C above normal, the official said. Kupwara town recorded a low of 5.4°C against 7.3°C on the previous night and it was 0.9°C above normal there, the official said. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 0.5°C against 0.4°C on the previous night and it was above normal by 0.3°C for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Jammu, he said, recorded a minimum of 16.4°C and it was below normal by 0.2°C for the winter capital of J&K. Banihal, Batote and Bhaderwah recorded a low of 8.2°C each, he said. With regard to the forecast, he said, while fairly widespread light to moderate rain/snow/TS is expected over Jammu and Kashmir during next 24 hours, decrease in precipitation is likely from March 31. Generally dry weather has been forecast thereafter till April 5 with light rain expected at isolated places on April 3.
