Faizan Arif

Faizan Arif, professionally known through 'KASHMIR WEATHER' social media handles, is an independent weather forecaster and columnist based in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), India. Widely recognized for his expertise, he provides weather services to media companies, agencies, and agricultural sectors. He has been interviewed by several radio stations, newspapers, and TV channels, including Hindustan Times and The Times of India for his skills and work. He is a columnist for the Kashmir Observer, a prominent newspaper in Jammu and Kashmir. His view has been quoted by Voice of America, the oldest and largest U.S.-funded international broadcaster.

Life and career
Faizan is a weather forecaster from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He began his career in 2017 through an Instagram account where he provided weather forecasts. Since then, he expanded his reach to other social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube. He completed his schooling up to the 10th class at R.P. School Alamdar Colony Srinagar, and pursued his higher secondary studies at Green Valley Educational Institute in Srinagar. He attained a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in Physics at the Amity University Uttar Pradesh. Currently, he is pursuing a M.Sc. Applied Physics degree from the same University. Faizan gained recognition after being interviewed by various local Kashmiri newspapers such as The Kashmir Monitor, Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, and Kashmir Life. He was subsequently interviewed by The Citizen, India's first independent online daily. After appearing on radio stations such as 95 fm Tadka, Red fm 93.5 and Radio Mirchi, Faizan's recognition increased, and he started receiving attention from national newspapers, portals, and news channels such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India, India Times, Good News Today and ETV Bharat. Faizan's weather forecasts mainly cover the Jammu and Kashmir regions and are published in various state newspapers and media groups. He has earned the nickname "weather spotter" of Kashmir for his accurate weather predictions, as recognized by Hindustan Times.

In November 2020, he released a long-range weather forecast for Jammu and Kashmir for winter 2020–2021, the first for the Union Territory. His weather analysis are being shared by Press Trust of India, The Indian Express, India TV, Live Hindustan, and other media houses. Besides BBC, The Third Pole, Voice of America, Mongabay and News9Live, he has been quoted in dozens of other publications. The World Meteorological Organization honored him with an honorable mention for its WMO 2022 calendar competition. At present, he works as a weather columnist for Kashmir Observer. He also writes articles for Outlook India on an occasional basis.