Rains bring much-needed relief from scorching heat in Kashmir

Climate change, less precipitation behind summer sizzle in Kashmir

- Ashiq Hussain

Torrential rains drenched Kashmir valley on Monday bringing some momentary relief in the hot weather conditions prevailing in the Himalayan region for the past more than a month.

The rains started in the afternoon in parts of Pahalgam in South Kashmir, Srinagar in Central Kashmir and Handwara in North Kashmir. However, by late evening heavy rains lashed most parts of the valley, including northern Baramulla district and majority of the city.

"The rains have brought a welcome relief from the intense hot weather in Kashmir. At many places people came out to drench in the rains even though the intensity of the rains was so severe," said Arif Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar.

There were hailstorms and gusty winds in various parts of the city. "Strong winds uprooted a tree between Batwara and Pandrethan, which crashed onto an e-rickshaw causing damage while the road continues to remain blocked," said Faizan Arif, a weather spotter.

Kashmir is experiencing multiple bouts of heatwave this summer with temperatures breaking records of the past 70 years, prompting the experts to delve into the reasons for such unusually hot weather.

The experts say that the heatwave is not just because of the immediate dry weather this summer but also because of less precipitation right from the beginning of winter. "We had very little snowfall this winter with no major snow cover over the mountains," said Farooq Ahmad Bhat, senior meteorologist at IMD's Srinagar centre.

He said that a heavy snow cover would help immediate rains in summer after just a few days of hot weather.