Srinagar: With mercury touching a high of 35°C and the weather department warning of a heat wave in the region, Kashmir is witnessing the hottest June of the decade.
On Sunday, the maximum day temperature was recorded at 35°C in the city while it was 34.4°C on Monday. These were the highest temperatures recorded in the Kashmir valley in the past one decade and were eight to nine degrees above the normal for this time of the year.
The day temperatures of Sunday and Monday have beaten the previous high of 34.1°C recorded in June 2013. The temperatures this month are nearing the highest-ever June temperature of 37.8°C recorded in 1978. The drastic rise in the temperature has come at a time when the region is witnessing a lengthy dry spell. Rain has eluded for most of the past nine months, except April. The day temperatures across the Valley are several degrees higher than the normal with Gulmarg in north Kashmir registering a high of 23°C on Sunday — six degrees more than the normal.
In south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort, the maximum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 28.8°C which was also six degrees above the normal.
The day temperature in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district was eight degrees above the normal while it was nine degrees above the normal in south Kashmir’s Qazigund town. — TNS