Night temperatures to drop further in Jammu and Kashmir

With the weather expected to remain dry during the next four days, the weather office Monday forecast a further drop in night temperatures across Jammu and Kashmir.

"The minimum temperature was 1.1 degrees Celsius in Srinagar Monday. It was minus 2.0 in Pahalgam, minus 3.4 in Gulmarg, minus 7.1 in Leh and minus 6.2 in Kargil town of Ladakh region," a met official said.

"The minimum temperature was 9.7 degrees in Jammu city today (Monday)," he said.

"All these temperatures are a few notches below normal. Srinagar recorded one degree below normal, Gulmarg three degrees below normal, Pahalgam one degree and Jammu four degrees below normal today (Monday)," the official said.

"The weather is expected to remain dry till Nov 14. The night temperatures would continue to fall across the state till then," he added.

"A western disturbance is likely to arrive here Nov 15 under whose influence there would be light rain and snowfall in the Valley from Nov 15 onwards," the met official told IANS.

Western disturbance is the name given to an extra tropical storm in the Mediterranean Sea under whose influence rain and snowfall occur in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

He said the minimum temperature had dropped to minus nine degrees in Leh town Sunday, the coldest recorded so far.

Prospects of a better Rabi crop in the region depend largely on the western disturbance in contrast to the Kharif crop which depends on monsoon activity.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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