At 2.7°C, Chandigarh’s coldest day this winter amid zero visibility

This is the first time that the minimum temperature in the city has dropped below 3°C since 2017 when it had fallen to 2.4°C on January 11.

The minimum temperature of Chandigarh dropped to 2.7°C on Tuesday, the lowest it has gone this winter, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

A lone cyclist on a Chandigarh road on a foggy Tuesday morning. The minimum temperature dropped to 2.7°C, the lowest the city has seen so far this winter. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

With the minimum temperature below 4°C, this was the third consecutive day the city experienced cold wave conditions.

This is the first time that the minimum temperature in the city has dropped below 3°C since 2017 when it had fallen to 2.4°C on January 11.

It was also for the first time this season that there was zero visibility in the morning. IMD officials said chances of dense fog and cold day conditions will continue on Tuesday as well.

Ballowal Saunkhri in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar remained the coldest place in Punjab for the second consecutive day with the temperature going down from minus 0.2°C on Monday to minus 0.4°C on Tuesday.

Mahendragarh was the coldest station in Haryana at 0.7°C.

There was zero visibility in Bathinda also, while it was slightly better at 25 metres in Ambala, Karnal and Patiala.

Due to poor visibility till 9.30am at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, three departure flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad were cancelled on Tuesday morning.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a minimum of 5.4°C, Ludhiana 3.3°C, Patiala 3.1°C, Pathankot 4°C, Bathinda 3°C, Faridkot 3.5°C and Gurdaspur 3.5°C.

In neighbouring Haryana, Hisar recorded a low of 1.1°C, Ambala 4.4°C and Karnal 3.2°C, while Narnaul, Bhiwani and Sirsa recorded a minimum of 3°C, 3.9°C and 4.2°C, respectively.