Kashmir Valley Snowed White, Srinagar Records Heaviest Rainfall Of Season

As predicted, an active western disturbance has laid a carpet of snow in the entire Kashmir Valley in the past 24hr. A befitting tribute, to the last in the sequence of harsh winter ‘Chillai Bachha’, nearly coming to an end on 28th Feb. The capital city has recorded the heaviest rain and snow spell of this season.

Srinagar airport registered 62.3 mm of rainfall in 24 hrs, ending 8.30 am today. This is the highest amount for this duration, for the last one decade or so in the month of February. Earlier, the city had measured 61.6mm rainfall on 05^thFeb 2017.  Normal rainfall for the month as such is 81.9mm and the summer capital has so far recorded 75.3mm so far, between 01^st and 23^rdFeb. More weather activity is likely for the next 3-4days and rainfall is expected to exceed the normal.

Kashmir valley has experienced fairly widespread moderate to heavy snow and the activity still lingers on. Tourist resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg also recorded snow and rain amounting to 55mm and 38mm respectively. Other locations like Anantnag, Banihal, Batote, Bhaderwah and Kukernag measured moderate rainfall of 69mm, 63mm, 52mm, 48mm, and 48mm respectively.

Srinagar has recorded the heaviest spell of this season (62.3mm) and the 2nd best was 38mm observed on 08th Jan 2022.  The month of Feb 2022 had only scaled single-digit rain and snow between 01st and 22ndFeb. Rain and snow are continuing and the capital city has added another 15mm in the last 3hr, between 8.30 am and 11.30 am.

Rain and snow are expected to continue for the next 4 days, till 26^thFeb. Spread and intensity will nearly be the same today, for the 2^nd consecutive day.  Tomorrow, the weather conditions will be marginally better. For the subsequent 2 days (25^th and 26^th), the spread will remain the same but the intensity is likely to become light. A short breather on 27^thFeb and the weather conditions will clamp down again from 28^thFeb, albeit more intense from 01^stMar.

Day temperatures have fallen steeply across the region. Srinagar witnessed a drop of 11°C when it plunged from 16.2° to a low single-digit of 5.2°C. At Gulmarg, even the day maximum fell below the freeze at -1.2°C. The other popular resort of Pahalgam also recorded a day temperature of 2.1°C, about 11°C below the normal. No respite is likely today and marginal relief after 48hr is likely.