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Chandigarh witnesses season’s first ‘severe cold day’
Icy winds, cloudy skies, coupled with mercury 7 degrees below normal, leave residents shivering
With a maximum temperature seven degrees below normal, Chandigarh recorded this winter season’s first “severe cold day” on Thursday.
While the day temperature was recorded at 14.3°C, down from Wednesday’s 16.6°C, the night temperature also dropped from 6.2°C to 5.1°C, which was two notches below normal.
Coupled with chilly winds and cloudy skies through most part of the day, the low maximum temperature, which was the same as in Shimla, forced residents to stay indoors.
This cold wave is expected to continue till December 21, said officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Fog can also be expected, especially in the morning and evenings.
A “severe cold day” is declared when, along with a minimum temperature below 10°C, the maximum temperature also drops more than 6.5 notches below normal.
In the next three days, the maximum temperature is expected to remain between 15°C and 17°C, while the minimum temperature will hover around 6°C.
Bad weather affects seven flights
Owing to bad weather, four flights’ departure was delayed and another three arrived late at the Chandigarh International Airport on Thursday.
Indigo flight 6E-6177 from Ahmedabad landed at 11.32am against the scheduled arrival of 10am. For its onward journey to Srinagar, it was delayed by 1.15 hours.
The airline’s flight 6E-6178 arrived from Srinagar at 2.47pm instead of 1.45pm, and subsequently, the flight departed for Ahmedabad after a delay of 41 minutes.
GoAir flight G8-810 from Bengaluru also arrived after 17 minutes. This affected its return journey by 26 minutes. Similarly, Indigo flight 6E-2409 also departed late for Delhi after 20 minutes.
Airport officials said the visibility was poor during morning, but gradually improved as the day progressed.
