The summer capital of the former state, Srinagar, has received 187.2 mm of precipitation this month, which is more than any other station in the area has seen since 1891.
In the month of July, Srinagar has not seen such heavy rains for 131 years.
According to independent weather forecaster Faizan Arif, this July was the wettest in at least 131 years, with 187.2 mm of rainfall recorded at Srinagar’s Rambagh Observatory. This observatory was established in 1891.
According to him, “the majority of this rainfall occurred during three spells: 20.0 mm on 08 July, 50.6 mm on 20 July, and 53.4 mm on 27 July,” and before this year, the highest-ever rainfall recorded in the month of July was 182.6 mm in 1988.
It rained more in July than it has in July for the last 28 years in Qazigund, which is in South Kashmir, he added. This was the same in other parts of the Valley as well.
He said that the heaviest rainfall since 1996 has been recorded at 197.7 mm in July 2023 in Qazigund, breaking the previous record and the all-time record of 280.1 mm set in 1995.
The July 2023 rainfall total of 225.5 mm at Pahalgam was second highest since the weather observatory was established in 1978, or the second highest rainfall in 45 years, behind only the July 2021 total of 232.6 mm, which was the previous and all-time record.
In July 2023, the rainfall total in Kokernag was 198.0 mm, which was higher than the previous record of 204.3 mm set in July 2015.
He did note that the record rainfall for Kokernag was 246.2 mm in 1995, therefore it is safe to assume that 2016 was the wettest year in the region.
According to him, the month of July 2023 had the most precipitation in Gulmarg in the past 13 years, with a total of 144.8 millimetres falling; the previous record was 220.9 millimetres in 2010, and the all-time record was 255.3 millimetres in 1993. As a result, “therefore, Gulmarg, a famous ski-resort, has recorded highest rainfall since 2011,” he stated. (KNO)
