5 including tourists injured by lightning
Gopal Sharma/ Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, June 9: While Jammu today recorded season’s highest temperature of 43.8 degree Celsius, at least five persons were injured after a lightning bolt hit a tree at Botanical Garden, Srinagar this evening as gusty winds blew across Kashmir with heavy showers recorded in Srinagar and its adjacent areas bringing respite from hot weather.
A lightning bolt hit a Deodhar tree in Botanical Garden in Srinagar resulting in injuries to five persons including few tourists. The injured have been shifted to a nearby medical facility for treatment.
Official sources said that Chatha observatory of SKUAST- Jammu today recorded season’s highest temperature of 43.8 degree C while it was 43.6 degree C on Tuesday (June 7). The night temperature in Jammu today remained 27.3 degree Celsius.
Holy township of Katra Mata Vaishnodevi in Jammu region recorded a maximum temperature of 40.3 deg C, Bhaderwah tourist resort 34.2 deg C, Batote 31.8 deg C, Leh 14. 4 deg C while Kargil town 24.6 deg C temperature today. Mirpur in PoK today recorded a highest temperature of 45.4 deg C, the IMD official said.
The spokesman further said that there may be duststorm in some parts of Jammu region on Friday and Saturday but there seems to be no big relief from the scorching hot weather conditions till June 15 in the region.
The IMD spokesman said that maximum temperature in Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India will come down by a few notches over the weekend but no major relief is likely till next one week. The moisture-laden easterly winds will bring significant relief in the region from June 16 onwards, he said.
“There is a heat wave warning for parts of North-west and Central India today but a steep rise in the temperature is not predicted,” the IMD official said.
North-west and Central India is reeling under a heat wave spell since June 2 due to an onslaught of hot and dry westerly winds. “The ongoing heat wave spell is less intense as compared to those recorded in April-end and May, but the area of impact is almost equal,” he said.
Pre-monsoon activity is predicted over east Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha from June 12, but north Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and north MP will continue to see above normal temperatures till June 15, the IMD official said.
“Parts of northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, may report a marginal relief on June 11-12. There will be cloudy weather over the weekend but rainfall is unlikely,” he added.
Reports from Srinagar said that after a hot day, the weather changed all of a sudden in Srinagar at 4 pm with cloud cover followed by gusty winds and heavy showers at around 4:30 pm. The heavy showers brought respite from the hot weather.
At several places, the gusty winds caused damage to the crops and trees and blew away the roof tops. The Kulgam district in South Kashmir was worst hit where winds blew dozens of roof tops and uprooted trees.
A Meteorological Department official said that intermittent rains will continue till next 12 hours and there will be drop in the night temperatures across Kashmir.
Earlier, in the day, the official said that mainly dry weather will prevail over the plains of Jammu and Kashmir with possibility of very light rain and thundershowers at one or two places over the higher reaches. He said that no large change was expected for two subsequent days.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded a low of 15.4 degree Celsius against 15.0 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature, he said, was above normal by 2.0 degree Celsius during this time of the year for Srinagar.
Qazigund recorded a low of 11.2 degree Celsius against 12.4 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 0.8 degree Celsius below normal for the place.
Pahalgam recorded a minimum of 7.1 degree Celsius against 7.6 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 0.1°C above normal for the resort during this time of the year.
Kokernag recorded a low of 13.2 degree Celsius against 13.5 degree Celsius the previous night. It was 0.9 degree Celsius above normal for the place during this time of the season.
Gulmarg recorded a low of 9.0 degree Celsius against 8.6° degree Celsius the previous night. While 8.7 degree Celsius is normal for the world famous skiing resort during this time of the season, the official said that the temperature was 0.3 degree Celsius above normal.
Kupwara recorded a low of 12.6 degree Celsius against 12.1 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 0.9 degree Celsius above normal for the place.
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