Jammu records second-highest rainfall for January in two decades

Jammu, Jan 06: Incessant downpour threw life out of gear during the last three days in Jammu with the city on Wednesday recording 50.1 mm rainfall in a 24-hour period, its second-highest for the month of January in 20 years, Meteorological department officials said.

The showers, however, stopped on Wednesday morning, bringing some relief to residents. "Jammu recorded 50.1 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours. This was the second-highest in the past two decades as the city had recorded the all-time high of 81.4 mm rainfall on January 13, 2000," a spokesperson of the department said.

He said the city had recorded 47.7 mm rainfall on January 26, 2017. The spokesperson said the minimum temperature in the city settled at 12.1 degrees Celsius, which is 4.7 notches above normal for this part of the season.

Triggered by heavy rainfall, the river Tawi went into spate but it was flowing below the danger level. Banihal town along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was recorded as the coldest place in the Jammu region at a low of 0.2 degree Celsius.

The highway town witnessed 80.4 mm of rain and snow during a 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am, the spokesperson said. Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district, recorded 47.9 mm rainfall and a minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius, he said.

"Weather improving gradually, significant improvement expected from today (Wednesday) afternoon onwards but light rain or snow will occur at scattered places in the next 24 hours," the official said, adding that there is no forecast of any major snowfall, and the weather is likely to remain mainly dry in Jammu and Kashmir till January 14.