Chandigarh! Get ready for more severe, foggy winter this year

The delayed withdrawal of monsoon is a precursor, says IMD regional director

Winter this year is expected to be more severe with lower temperatures and visibility, as compared to recent years.

Fog and inclement weather affects visibility and hits operations at the Chandigarh airport every winter, especially during the peak season in December and January.

The average maximum temperature in the first week of October was lowest since 2016, according to data available with the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and the trend is likely to continue throughout this winter.

“The late withdrawal of monsoon has led to high humidity, even till the second week of October. Ideally, it starts to reduce before the end of September,” said IMD regional director Surender Paul. “When humidity stays high till late, a drop in temperature and foggy weather can be expected in winter.”

Monsoon withdrawal is expected to be declared around October 10. This is the most delayed in the past six years.

Paul said even though it rained much more last year, humidity remained higher this monsoon due to the easterly winds. He said western disturbances, which too remained quite active this summer, will continue to affect the weather in winter, leading to more dip in temperature than usual.

“After monsoon withdrawal, minimum temperature can fall to 17°C. Rain and snow are also expected in the hilly regions surrounding Chandigarh in the coming days, which will further lead to a drop in temperature,” said Paul.

In 2018, average maximum temperature from November to January was 23.1°C and average minimum was 12.3°C. In 2017, the two stood at 23.8°C and 9.5°C, and in 2016, 24.6°C and 10.1°C, respectively.

A detailed forecast will be prepared in November, which will make it clear how much the mercury will fall this winter, said the IMD director.

Meanwhile, amid traces of rainfall recorded at the IMD observatory, maximum temperature rose marginally from 30.7°C on Sunday to 30.8°C on Monday. Minimum temperature also saw a rise from 19°C to 21.6°C. In the next three days, maximum temperature will remain around 31 degrees while minimum temperature will be around 20 degrees.

Air travellers to bear brunt

Chandigarh Foggy weather will hit the people planning to travel from Chandigarh International Airport this winter.

They should brace for cancellation of flights, just like in previous years.

At present, the airport has CAT-2 instrument landing system (ILS), which works only till as low as 350m visibility. An aircraft requires at least 100m visibility to land safely.

The airport was to get the advanced CAT-3 system, which permits flight operations even when visibility drops to as low as 50 metres, this winter. However, due to the delay in work, it won’t become operational before the next winter.

Fog and inclement weather affects visibility and hits operations at the Chandigarh airport every winter, especially during the peak season in December and January. An ILS allows pilots to land using instruments when they are unable to establish a visual contact with the runway, especially when their is poor visibility.

It was in April this year that all stakeholders, including the civil aviation ministry, Indian Air Force and the Airport Authority of India, agreed to install the much-needed CAT-3 ILS at the airport. In June, the initial deadline to complete the work by October was moved to December 2019.

However, the work has not yet begun, and sources say it won’t be over before October 2020. A senior officer of the airport said it will take at least six months for the contractor to complete the work once requisite permissions are received.