Srinagar records hottest June since 1978, second warmest in over 130 years

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The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar, has just witnessed its hottest June since 1978, and the second hottest since records began in 1892, as confirmed by the Srinagar Meteorological Centre director, Mukhtar Ahmad and independent weather expert Faizan Arif, Hindustan Times reported.

Faizan Arif, who runs the popular weather handle @Kashmir_Weather on X, shared that the average maximum temperature for June 2025 in Srinagar was 31 degrees Celsius. The mean minimum temperature was 18.2 degrees Celsius, which led to an overall average of 24.6 degrees Celsius for the month.

“This June was just slightly cooler than June 1978, when the average maximum temperature was a scorching 32.9 degrees Celsius. Back then, the mean minimum was 17.1 degrees Celsius, resulting in an overall average of 25 degrees Celsius, the hottest June in recent memory,” Arif explained.

Mukhtar Ahmad supported this analysis, saying June 2025 mirrored June 1978 in many ways. “In 1978, temperatures hit 35 degrees Celsius on more than ten occasions, and even went beyond 37 degrees Celsius on some days, which wasn’t the case this year,” he added. However, the consistent heat throughout this June has made it one of the most extreme the region has experienced in decades.

Notably, Arif mentioned that similar overall average temperatures of 24.6 degrees Celsius were also recorded in 1971 and 1973, placing June 2025 among the top three hottest Junes in over a century.

Meanwhile, Qazigund, known as the gateway to South Kashmir, also recorded unusually high temperatures. The average maximum temperature for June 2025 there was 30.3 degrees Celsius, with a mean minimum of 16.1 degrees Celsius, resulting in an overall monthly average of 23.2 degrees Celsius. This makes it Qazigund’s hottest June since 1973, when the average was 23.7 degrees Celsius.

In 1978, Qazigund had also recorded an average of 23.2 degrees Celsius for June, though the temperature distribution differed slightly. The highest recorded average minimum temperature for Qazigund in June still remains 17.3 degrees Celsius from 1971.