At 7.9°C, Chandigarh turns colder than Shimla
This is the first time this has happened this season; however, this has now become a yearly occurrence. Last year, on December 21, the minimum temperature of the city had gone down to 6.2°C, compared to 9.2°C in Shimla
The minimum temperature in the city, which has been on a downward trend for the past few days, dropped further from 8.6°C on Thursday to 7.9°C on Friday, making Chandigarh colder than Shimla, where the temperature was 8.4°C.
This is the first time this has happened this season. However, this has now become a yearly occurrence. Last year, on December 21, the minimum temperature of the city had gone down to 6.2°C, compared to 9.2°C in Shimla.
On Friday, Chandigarh was, however, still warmer than other hill stations in Himachal Pradesh like Dharamshala where the minimum temperature was 6°C and Manali where it was 0.5°C.
According to the India Meteorological Department, there were numerous nights last season when the city was colder than Shimla. Last winter was especially harsh due to the long spell of dense fog in the city in January. The minimum temperature had plunged as low as 2.7°C on January 16.
But this year, winter is expected to be a bit warmer, with a high probability of above average temperature, both during the day and night, as per the Long-Range forecast issued by IMD.
At 7.9°C, this was the lowest that the minimum temperature has gone this season and was 2.7°C below normal. Last year, minimum temperature had fallen to 6°C twice, on December 16 and 21.
The all-time lowest temperature in December is 0°C, which was recorded on December 31, 1973.
Speaking about why the temperature in Chandigarh can sometimes fall below that of Shimla, IMD Chandigarh director, Surender Paul, who was also earlier IMD Shimla director, said, “The current drop in night temperature is due to the weak Western Disturbance (WD) present in Himachal Pradesh that led to slightly above average temperatures over there. Even otherwise, Chandigarh being in the plains, typically, suffers from fog more than Shimla. During intense spells of fog the city can become colder than hill stations due to this reason.”
The maximum temperature also fell from 24.8°C on Thursday to 23.9°C on Friday, 1.5 degrees below normal. Over the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain around 23°C and the minimum temperature around 7°C.
After dry Oct, Nov, rain may make a comeback tomorrow
While the city has gone without rain for two straight months in October and November, an active WD is likely to affect the city from Sunday onwards, bringing along light rain up to 20 mm on Sunday.
Paul said, “The WD is expected to have some effect in Northern parts of Punjab and Haryana. Even if there is only a brief spell of rain it will significantly affect the weather build-up. From December 10 onwards, we can expect temperature to start falling at a higher pace. The day temperature is likely to start reducing first as moisture will come to the region and can lead to the start of fog formation in the region this December.”
The rain is good news for the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the region as even one spell of rain can reduce it significantly. As per the daily bulletin released by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city’s AQI was 179 on Friday, which falls in the moderate bracket.