Srinagar, July 19 -- After largely dry and hot weather since the beginning of summer in May-June, Kashmir has received very good rains in the past one week breaking the dry spell, bringing heatwave-like conditions under control and rejuvenating the water bodies of the Himalayan valley. Kashmir has received 31.7 mm average rainfall from July 11 to 17, comprising over 40% of the total 76 mm average rainfall since June 1. Meteorologists of the Srinagar weather monitoring centre (MeT) said that the 66.5% above normal rainfall in the past one week brought Kashmir's rain deficit since June 1 from 52% to manageable 17.5%. "Kashmir was reeling under deficit rainfall since June. As against 92.1 mm of normal rainfall, Kashmir had just received 44.3 mm average rains till last week. However, the average rainfall of 31.7 mm from July 11 to 17, particularly from Monday has helped to bridge the deficit gap and rejuvenate the water bodies," said an official of MeT. The MeT,which uploaded the rain data on its X handle, said that Jammu division, which has been receiving continuous monsoon rains this season, recorded 264 mm rains (normal is 230 mm) from June 1 to July 17, of which 44 mm were witnessed from July 11 to 17. In terms of percentage, Jammu precipitation was 14% above normal. Kashmir valley, as against Jammu, has been experiencing multiple bouts of heatwave this summer - first between May 18 to 27 and then from June 9 onwards - breaking decades old temperature records and severely affecting the life of people. The rains and low temperatures come after Kashmir witnessed extended dry spells in May and June with high temperatures in the beginning of July breaking a 72 year old record. On July 5, Srinagar had recorded a maximum temperature of 37.4 degree Celsius - the highest in over seven decades and the third-highest ever recorded in the city. Meteorologist Farooq Ahmad Bhat said that July rainfall turned the tables for Kashmir's precipitation deficit. "July witnessed some very good rain days with continuous frequency. Otherwise we had few spells of rain in June of short durations while May was also largely dry. Now the deficit has come down to 17% which is considered almost near normal," Bhat said. District wise, Kupwara recorded the highest rainfall of 41 mm between July 11 and 17 followed by Anantnag(south) and Baramulla (north) at 40.7 mm and 39.8 mm respectively. Summer capital Srinagar witnessed 26.2 mm rains, some 34% above normal in the preceding week, the data revealed. Following the rainfall, the temperatures have fallen below normal across Kashmir while also rejuvenating the lakes and rivers, including Jhelum, which meanders from south to Srinagar and then further to north Kashmir before entering Pakistan. " The water level of Jhelum at Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh rose by around 8 feet after recent spells of rainfall," said Faizan Arif, a prominent weather spotter of Kashmir, on his Kashmir_weather handle on X. The precipitation has come as a sign of hope for the farmers and orchardists of Kashmir. "The timely rainfall will be highly beneficial for J&K agriculture and horticulture which two weeks ago was staring at a bleak future due to heatwave, " said Ghulam Hassan, a fruit grower of central Kashmir. The outlook is looking good for another rain spell across Kashmir from July 21, the MeT predicted....